Every provider registered with the Care Quality Commission must have a statement of purpose. CQC's statement of purpose page, updated on 25 March 2026, describes it as the place where you tell CQC in your own words what you do, where you do it, and the people your service is for. It says all registered providers must have an accurate, up-to-date statement, and that this is a legal requirement.
This guide is for a domiciliary care agency registering, or already registered, with CQC in England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own regulators and their own rules, set out in home care compliance in the four UK nations. The statement is one document in a larger application. The rest of that application is in the CQC registration guide.
What the law requires
Regulation 12 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 has three parts:
- the registered person must give CQC a statement of purpose containing the information listed in Schedule 3
- the registered person must keep it under review and, where appropriate, revise it
- written details of any revision must be provided to CQC within 28 days of the revision
Schedule 3 lists five things the statement must contain:
- The aims and objectives of the service provider in carrying on the regulated activity.
- The kinds of services provided, and the range of service users' needs those services are intended to meet.
- For the provider and any registered manager, the full name, business address, business telephone number and, where available, email address. For the registered person, the address CQC may send documents and notices to and, where they consent, an email address for that purpose.
- The legal status of the service provider.
- Details of the locations at which the services are carried on.
CQC's guidance on Regulation 12 says a new provider must submit the statement with its first application for registration. It also says a provider applying to vary a condition of its registration should send a copy of its proposed statement of purpose with that application.
CQC's four-part template
CQC publishes a template in four Word documents, linked from its statement of purpose page. CQC's guidance for providers on statements of purpose, published in August 2018, says you do not have to use it, but that it helps you include all the information the law requires. Each part maps onto Schedule 3.
| Part | What it records | How many you fill in |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1: about the provider | Full name, CQC provider ID, legal status, business address, telephone, email for service of documents, and the names of partners in a partnership | One |
| Part 2: aims and objectives | Your aims and objectives in providing the regulated activities at the locations in Part 3 | One |
| Part 3: locations | Address and contact details, a description of the location, service user bands, service types, the regulated activities and the registered manager for each | One per location |
| Part 4: registered managers | Full name and contact details, address for service, locations managed and the percentage of time at each, the activities they manage, and any job share | One per registered manager |
CQC's statement of purpose page says that if you use the templates, you copy and paste all the parts into one document before submitting it.
Filling it in for a home care agency
Part 1: the provider and the address for service
Part 1 asks whether the provider is an individual, a partnership or an organisation. CQC's page lists the same information as the name of the business, its legal status, its business address, telephone number and email, including the address for serving notices, and the names of any partners.
The address for service matters more than it looks. CQC's 2018 guidance explains that this is where CQC must send statutory notices, such as a warning that a service is not complying, a decision on an application, or a fixed penalty. The same guidance says the address must be in England and cannot be a simple PO box number.
The Part 1 template says that submitting the statement confirms you are willing for CQC to use the email address in section 2 for service of documents, unless you tick the box to opt out. Where you opt out, it says documents, including draft and final inspection reports, are sent by post to the business address, and that the postal business address will be included on the CQC website. Section 94 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 is the provision on notices sent by electronic communication. Section 93 says when a notice sent that way is taken to have been received. Check that the inbox you name is one someone reads every working day.
Part 2: aims and objectives
Part 2 is a single free-text box. It is the part CQC describes as telling them in your own words what you do. For a home care agency it is worth being specific about:
- that the care is personal care, given to people in their own homes
- the area the agency covers from its office
- the kinds of visits you plan to offer, such as short calls through the day, longer calls, or care over a full 24-hour period
- the needs you are set up to meet, in words that match the service user bands you tick in Part 3
CQC's supporting documents guidance, updated on 15 June 2026, says every document you send must be complete, relevant and consistent with your other policies. It also says that if you use a third-party template, you must make sure it suits your service type, and that a template for residential care will not work for home care applicants. If your aims mention 24-hour care, for example, your staffing and on-call arrangements elsewhere in the application need to say how you will provide it.
Part 3: the location, service type and service user bands
For a home care agency, the location is normally the office the care is managed from. CQC's guidance on the statement of purpose as a supporting document asks for a description of the location, including any other uses for the property, such as whether it is a domestic dwelling.
The Part 3 template asks for:
- the location's name, address, postcode, telephone and email
- a description of the location, which the template says covers the premises and the area around them, access, adaptations, equipment, facilities, suitability for relevant special needs, staffing and qualifications
- the CQC service user bands for the people who will use the location
- the CQC service types provided there
- the regulated activities carried on there, and the registered manager for each
CQC's list of service types describes domiciliary care services (DCC) as services that provide personal care for people living in their own homes, where the person is visited at various times of the day or, in some cases, care is provided over a full 24-hour period. Its example is a domiciliary care agency. Supported living (SLS) and extra care housing (EXC) are separate service types. Tick those only if you will actually provide them.
The regulated activity for most home care agencies is personal care. Schedule 1 to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 describes it as personal care for people who, because of old age, illness or disability, cannot provide it for themselves, given in the place where they are living at the time.
The service user bands on the template include adults aged 18 to 65, adults aged 65 and over, dementia, mental health, physical disability, sensory impairment, people who misuse drugs or alcohol, people with an eating disorder, learning difficulties or autistic disorder, three age bands of children, and the whole population. Tick the bands you are genuinely set up to support. The 2018 guidance says the template uses the same service user groups as CQC's application forms.
CQC's supporting documents guidance adds one rule for specialist services. If you plan to be a specialist service for autistic people and people with a learning disability, you must show how you have considered their needs, including what you have done to make sure people can access and use your statement of purpose.
Part 4: the registered manager
Part 4 is completed for each registered manager. CQC's page says it must include their full name and contact details, the address CQC should use to serve notices and other documents on them, the locations they manage and the percentage of time they spend at each, the regulated activities they manage, and any job share arrangements.
The Part 4 template says that where the manager has not agreed to service by email, notices and documents for them are sent by post to the provider's business address in Part 1.
Keeping it up to date
The statement is not a one-off. Regulation 12 requires you to keep it under review, revise it where appropriate, and send written details of a revision within 28 days.
CQC's notification form page, updated on 11 March 2024, says you must keep the statement up to date, for example if you change the specialist services you provide, notify CQC of any changes, and send a revised copy when you notify. It says to use the current form on that page, email it to HSCA_applications@cqc.org.uk, and that an incomplete form will be returned. CQC then updates your registration details once it has processed the notification.
CQC's statement of purpose page sets out the steps: start from your existing statement, update it with the new information, notify CQC and email a copy of the updated statement with the notification, and keep the statement in a safe place.
Some changes need more than a revised statement:
| What changed | What CQC's guidance says to do |
|---|---|
| The address for service, or a purely business address | Amend Part 1, or Part 4 for a manager, and send it with the change notification form |
| The specialist services you provide, or the needs you meet | Revise the statement and notify CQC with the form |
| A new office, or any other location address | Apply on the appropriate application form. The 2018 guidance says this cannot be done by revising the statement alone |
| Adding or removing a regulated activity, or a location, or registering a manager | Send the amended statement with the application to vary your registration |
| A change of registered manager, or of the people who run the provider | Notify CQC under Regulation 15 as well, as set out in the CQC notifications guide |
Why it is enforced
Regulation 25 of the 2009 Regulations makes a contravention of, or a failure to comply with, regulation 12 an offence. On summary conviction the person is liable to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale. CQC's guidance on Regulation 12 says it can prosecute for a breach, or a breach of part of the regulation, without first serving a warning notice, and that it must refuse registration if a provider cannot satisfy it that it can and will continue to comply.
The practical risk for a new agency comes earlier. The registration guide explains that CQC checks the forms and the statement of purpose for completeness before it assesses anything else, and rejects an application that is incomplete. A statement that names the wrong service type, leaves out the address for service, or contradicts the business plan is an avoidable reason to start again.
A short checklist before you send it
- One document, with all four parts merged in order
- Legal status and provider name exactly as they appear on your other forms
- An address for service in England, not a PO box, and an email address someone checks every working day
- Aims and objectives written for home care, not adapted from a care home template
- Domiciliary care service (DCC) ticked, with personal care as the regulated activity
- Service user bands that match your business plan, training plan and policies
- A Part 3 for each location and a Part 4 for each registered manager, with the percentage of time at each location
- Your business name, the person responsible, the date created and the review date, which CQC's supporting documents guidance asks for on every document
- No personal information about anyone who will use the service
Where homecareOS fits
The statement of purpose is written by the provider and sent to CQC by the provider. The CQC registration checklist in homecareOS includes the statement of purpose as one item, kept with the rest of your registration evidence, such as policies, DBS checks and training records. It does not submit anything to CQC, and it does not decide which service types or service user bands apply to you. Those remain decisions for the registered person.
Sources
- Statement of purpose, Care Quality Commission, updated 25 March 2026, for what the statement must include, the four templates, and how to update it.
- Statements of purpose: guidance for providers, Care Quality Commission, August 2018, for the address for service, the optional template, and the changes that need an application rather than a revised statement.
- Regulation 12: Statement of purpose, Care Quality Commission, for the intention of the regulation, submission with a first application or a variation, and prosecution.
- Changes to your statement of purpose: notification form, Care Quality Commission, updated 11 March 2024, for the change notification and the email address.
- Supporting documents: what each document must include, Care Quality Commission, updated 15 June 2026, and the statement of purpose section, for the rules every document must meet and the extra requirement for specialist services.
- Service types, Care Quality Commission, updated 10 April 2026, for the description of domiciliary care services (DCC).
- Regulation 12, Schedule 3 and Regulation 25, Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, for the duty, its contents and the offence.
- Schedule 1, paragraph 1, Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, for the regulated activity of personal care.
- Section 93 and section 94, Health and Social Care Act 2008, for how notices are given and when they are taken to be received.
- CQC registration checklist, for how homecareOS keeps the statement with your registration evidence. That page describes the product.