The Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill Series – Regulation and Inspection of Social Care

The Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill (“the Bill”) has recently passed the fourth and final stage of the legislative process in the Senedd Cymru.

This article will consider the proposed changes within the Bill.

The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016

The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (“RISCA”) provides a statutory framework for the regulation and inspection of social care and support services in Wales. Care and support services are ‘regulated services’ under RISCA.

RISCA reformed the registration and regulation of the social care workforce by establishing a regulatory system in-line with the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

Following the implementation of RISCA, the Welsh Government developed and published various regulations and statutory guidance.

Pursuant to the Bill, several amendments to RISCA are proposed. The Welsh Government have stated that these amendments have been identified in conjunction with the service and workforce regulators, and will:

better achieve the original policy intent of the Act;
resolve anomalies within systems that have become apparent in practice; and
assist Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) and Social Care Wales (SCW) in the exercise of their regulatory functions.

The Bill will make a number of changes to Part 1 of the Act, which details the regulatory regime for regulated services, service providers, and Responsible Individuals.

This article will consider the key amendments proposed.

Duty to Submit and Publish Annual Returns

Section 10 of RISCA requires service providers to submit an annual return to the Welsh Ministers at the end of each financial year during which the provider is registered. This annual return must contain information specified in RISCA and the Regulated Services (Annual Returns) (Wales) Regulations 2017, as amended (“the Regulations”).

Section 10(5) of RISCA places a requirement on the Welsh Ministers to publish annual returns, which in practice is undertaken on their behalf by CIW.

However, it has been identified that this gave rise to a potential liability upon the Welsh Ministers for the content of annual returns, particularly with reference to data protection legislation and in the law of defamation.

For example, whilst the Regulations do not require service providers to submit personal information relating to the individuals using their service, there is the potential for such information to be included and published inadvertently.

For this reason, the Bill will amend RISCA to require service providers to publish annual returns on their website.

The Bill also includes provision for time limits to be specified for publication.

Importantly, the Bill will make failing to publish an annual return an offence which, upon conviction, could result in the imposition of a fine. This will be analogous to the existing offence under section 48 of RISCA.

Application for Cancellation of a Service Provider’s Registration – Information to be Provided

Section 14 of RISCA allows a service provider to apply to cancel its registration.

The Bill includes a regulation-making power to allow the Welsh Ministers (CIW) to require that an application for the cancellation of a service provider’s registration is made on a prescribed basis.

The aim of this provision is to empower CIW to require service providers to confirm how they intend to comply with applicable regulations under section 27 of RISCA, until such time as the service ceases to exist.

Section 27 of RISCA then allows for Welsh Ministers (CIW) to impose requirements upon a service provider in relation to a regulated service.

Cancellation of a Service Provider’s Registration Without Application – Notice Procedures

Section 15 of RISCA provides Welsh Ministers (CIW) with the power to cancel a service provider’s registration, without an application being made, where one of the following grounds apply:

a) the service provider no longer provides any regulated services;

b) the Welsh Ministers are no longer satisfied that the service provider is a fit and proper person to be a service provider;

c) there is no responsible individual designated in respect of each place at, from or in relation to which the provider provides a regulated service (and the time limit for applying to vary the registration prescribed in regulations made under section 11(2) has expired);

d) the service provider or a responsible individual designated in respect of a place at, from or in relation to which the provider provides a regulated service has been convicted of, or has been given a caution in respect of, a relevant offence in connection with a regulated service provided by the service provider;

e) any other person has been convicted of, or has been given a caution in respect of, a relevant offence in connection with a regulated service provided by the service provider; or

f) a regulated service provided by the service provider is not being provided in accordance with the requirements mentioned in section 7(1)(d) so far as applicable to that service.

RISCA currently provides that a cancellation may only be made under section 15 if the improvement notice process is followed. That process, set out at section 16 and 17 of RISCA, provides service providers with the opportunity to implement service improvements in order to satisfy the Welsh Ministers (CIW) that cancellation or variation of registration is not appropriate.

The Bill will amend RISCA to require that the Notice of Proposal procedure is followed, when cancelling a service provider’s registration on one of the following grounds:

The service provider has been convicted of, or has been given a caution in respect of, a relevant offence.
The Welsh Ministers (CIW) are no longer satisfied that the service provider is a fit and proper person to be a service provider.
The service provider no longer provides any regulated service.

A Notice of Proposal is a notice informing a service provider of the decision of the Welsh Ministers (CIW) propose to take, which gives the service provider an opportunity to make written representations within a certain time period. This time period must be a minimum of 28 days.

In contrast, an Improvement Notice is a notice of intention to cancel a service provider’s registration, which gives the provider opportunity to rectify the matters highlighted in it. The notice of intention must specify a time limit within which improvement action must be taken.

Information and Inspections – Power to Require Information

Section 32 of RISCA currently provides the Welsh Ministers (CIW) with the power to require information in relation to the exercise of their functions under Chapters 2 (registration etc of service providers) and 3 (information and inspections) of Part 1 of RISCA.

The Bill will amend RISCA to provide the Welsh Ministers (CIW) with the power to require information from a person who is providing a regulated service, for which they are not registered to provide.

This amendment will support the Welsh Ministers to carry out their functions under section 5 RISA, under which it is an offence for a person to provide a regulated service without being registered.

Meaning of Social Care Worker – Childcare Workers

Section 79 of RISCA currently defines a ‘social care worker’ as a person who:

a) Engages in relevant social work (a social worker).

b) Manages a place at or from which a regulated service is provided (a social care manager).

c) In the course of his or her employment with a service provider, provides care and support to any person in Wales in connection with a regulated service provided by that provider.

d) Under a contract for services, provides care and support to any person in Wales in connection with a regulated service provided by a service provider.

The Bill will amend section 79 of RISCA to provide Welsh Ministers with the power to extend this definition to include childcare workers.

Childcare workers are individuals who are employed by, or who work for, a person registered as a day care provider, to provide care and supervision for children, under Part 2 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010.

The stated purpose of this amendment is to enable to Welsh Ministers to make regulations specifying that childcare workers are to be treated as social care workers and to enable SCW to carry out functions to support the childcare workforce.

Social Care Wales - Fitness to Practise Cases: Powers to Extend Interim Orders

Section 114 RISCA allows SCW to impose an interim order upon a registered person (a “Registrant”). That places temporary restrictions on their ability to practice in order to protect the public or where such an order is otherwise in the public interest.

Subject to an ongoing review process, interim orders can be put in place for a maximum of 18 months. When necessary and appropriate, for example because it has not been possible to conclude an investigation within that period, an order can be extended beyond 18 months by making an application to the First-Tier Tribunal (Care Standards).

The Bill will amend RISCA to allow an interim order panel, or a fitness to practice panel before which the interim order proceedings are brought, to extend an interim order for up to a period of 18 months. That will mean that, in a case where an Interim Order Panel decides to impose an interim order for less than 18 months, SCW will be able to seek an initial extension before an Interim Orders Panel.

Any extension beyond 18 months will continue to require an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Care Standards).

Amendments to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014

The Welsh Government has also taken the opportunity to seek to improve the effectiveness of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”), in order to ensure that current practice aligns with the legislation.

Specifically, the Bill will make the following amendments to the 2014 Act:

Amending Section 47 of the 2014 Act in order to ensure that the boundaries of health and social care are maintained.
Reconfiguring the provisions in Part 4 of the 2014 Act that enable the making of direct payments by local authorities in order to enable provision for a direct payment to be made to a third party nominate by an individual entitled to receive such a payment in cases where the individual person has mental capacity to make that decision.
Amending Sections 76 and 81 of the 2014 Act to clarify references to “child arrangement orders”.
Amending the Welsh text of section 124(9) of the 2014 Act to add reference to circumstances where a local authority is placing a child in secure accommodation in Scotland in accordance with section 25 of the Children Act 1989 to the cases in which the provision in section 124 is disapplied. The Welsh Government contend that this will restore the equivalence of the English and Welsh texts of that provision.

The Bill’s Progress Through the Senedd

The Bill has recently passed the final stage of the legislative process in Senedd Cymru.

The Bill previously passed legislative stage 1 on 22 October 2024, stage 2 on 28 November 2024 and stage 3 on 28 January 2025.

Stage 4 proceedings took place in plenary on 4 February 2025. During this session a motion to approve the Bill was passed, with 42 members of the Senedd voting for such a motion.

During the legislative process, a number of different committees prepared their own reports upon the Bill as originally drafted. These reports can be found below:

The Health and Social Care Committee’s report – dated 11 October 2024
The Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee’s report – dated 11 October 2024
The Finance Committee’s report – dated 11 October 2024

If you would like to view the Welsh Government’s response to any of the above reports, you can find these here.

Eve Piffaretti is a Partner and Luke Williams is a Solicitor at Blake Morgan.

Blake Morgan has significant experience in advising upon health and social care matters. Should you require advice upon how the Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill may affect you please contract Eve Piffaretti.