Starting the next phase of local authority assessments

18 May 2026 11:16 AM

In April, we published our updated approach and guidance about local authority assurance assessments ahead of starting the next phase.

We recently (15 March 2026) published additional information about the tools and processes we have developed to support us to continue our assessments of how local authorities are meeting their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act (2014).

These have been developed following engagement with our stakeholders, including the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), the Local Government Association (LGA), Ofsted, a number of local authorities and our assessment teams.

Introducing assurance meetings

We are introducing local authority assurance meetings to help us to understand the context in which each local authority is discharging its adult social care duties and the impact on the experiences and outcomes for people, including unpaid carers.  

Read our guidance on local authority assurance meetings for more details about the format and frequency of these meetings, and the information and data to support them.

Strengthening how we gather evidence

We have updated how we use case sampling and case tracking to gather people’s lived experiences. This follows feedback from local authorities about the use of language and a need for improved guidance. These are now called ‘understanding people’s experiences’ and ‘sampling people’s experiences’.

Understanding people’s experiences involves following the pathway of a small number of people to gather evidence by reviewing their care records and talking with them and their family, friends, family carers or advocate. We carry out this process before the site visit.  

Sampling people’s experiences involves following parts of the pathway of a number of people to gather evidence for the assessment. It involves looking at the person’s care records alongside a member of staff from the local authority. The process does not involve talking with the person involved.

Communicating with local authorities

In response to feedback from our baselining assessments, we have improved how we communicate with a local authority during and after the site visit. This includes clearer guidance about the purpose of keeping in touch and high-level feedback meetings, including when they will happen and who needs to attend.

Factual accuracy checks

We have also improved our guidance about checking the factual accuracy of the draft report. This now includes a clearer explanation and examples of what you can and can’t submit. The template for submitting points about factual accuracy has also been redesigned to make it easier to use, as we heard feedback that previous templates were confusing and hard to navigate.

What local authorities can expect 

An assessment starts when we send an information return request to the local authority, and it will end when we publish our assessment report. All local authorities will have 2 weeks in which to complete the information return. We will review the information sent to us and start assessment activity, which includes case tracking, speaking to unpaid carers and gathering evidence to inform our planning for the site visits.  

We aim to give 6 to 8 weeks’ notice before we carry out the site visit for a comprehensive assessment. This notice will tell you the name of a CQC assessment planner who will be your key contact for any queries, as well as the name of the assessment manager who will be leading that assessment.

The assessment consists of 1 week of off-site virtual activity and 1 week of on-site activity (the site visit). We expect the assessment process to be 19 weeks, excluding publishing the assessment report.  

We are starting to issue notification of assessment to local authorities during May.