Care England Responds To CQC Proposals To Raise Registration Fees By 9% For Adult Social Care Registered Providers

Care England is opposed to this significant increase for providers in the light of the continued extremely difficult financial environment, in which LA and CCG commissioners are not able to recognise and amend care fees to meet the increased costs of providing good quality care; and bearing in mind that the changes in CQC methodology are yet to bed down and therefore CQC will not be able to measure the value of the new approach effectively until 2016 -17.

Professor Martin Green OBE said:

“We support the direction of travel within CQC and will continue to support the move to a more focused and transparent inspection regime. The changes to inspection for ASC have only come into effect however, and have yet to deliver consistently and over time. Until such time as the changes can be properly evaluated we do not believe there is a reliable basis for fee increases.”

Martin added:

“44% of ASC Directors felt, in the ADASS 2014 Budget survey, that care providers are facing financial difficulty and ASC and CCG commissioners have been unable to ensure their own care fees, paid to providers, reflect provider costs. In other words the full cost recovery CQC aim to achieve from providers for the cost of regulation is something providers cannot expect from their public sector funders.”