Annual return 2026: submission window now open for adults and children's services
Care providers in Wales must submit their annual return by 26 May 2026. This year, new legal requirements mean providers must also publish their annual return on their own website by 30 June 2026.
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) has today opened the 2026 annual return window for all registered adults and children's service providers in Wales.
The annual return window will remain open until 23:59 on 26 May 2026. All providers registered under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA) are required to complete and submit their return via their CIW Online account.
A new legal requirement for transparency
This year's annual return is unlike any before it. For the first time, the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025 requires providers to publish their submitted annual return on their own website by 30 June 2026. Previously, CIW published annual returns on behalf of providers. That responsibility now transfers directly to providers, reflecting the Welsh Government's commitment to greater transparency and accountability across regulated care services in Wales.
The change, which received Royal Assent in March 2025, means that people who use care services, their families, and the wider public will be able to access information about their local service directly from the provider's own website.
Failure to publish is a breach of statutory obligations under the Act.
Joining up data collection across the sector
The 2026 annual return also reflects a significant step forward in how data is collected across the Welsh care sector. CIW and Social Care Wales have combined their data collection processes, merging CIW's annual return with Social Care Wales's annual workforce collection into a single submission.
Previously, providers were asked to complete two separate data collections each year; one for CIW and one for Social Care Wales. From 2026, a single annual return satisfies both. Data submitted in the annual return will be shared between the two organisations, helping to build a more complete picture of the care workforce across Wales.
The annual return form is longer this year as a result of the additional workforce questions. However, CIW has worked to minimise the additional burden on providers. Some questions have been simplified, others removed entirely, and where providers supplied narrative responses last year, these have been pre-populated for review and updating.
What providers need to do
Providers must complete and submit their annual return via their CIW Online account by 23:59 on 26 May 2026. Only a Responsible Individual (RI) or Organisational Officer (OO) with an activated CIW Online account can submit the return, although other staff can assist with completion.
Following submission, providers will need to download their annual return and publish it on their own website by 30 June 2026.
Providers without an existing website will need to create one before the 30 June deadline. Guidance on the requirements is available on the CIW website.
Support available
Guidance and frequently asked questions about the annual return are available on the CIW website. A step-by-step guide to downloading the annual return will also be available soon.
Providers with questions or needing support can contact CIW at ciw@gov.wales or by calling 0300 7900 126.