Guidance for Responsible Individuals on statutory visits to regulated services

Purpose of this guidance

CIW has produced this guidance to provide advice and clarity to registered providers, responsible individuals (RIs) and CIW inspectors on the expectations around the undertaking and recording of RI quarterly visits to regulated services. 

These quarterly visits are required under the following regulations:

Regulation 73 of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017

Regulation 56 of the Regulated Fostering Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2019

Regulation 43 of the Regulated Advocacy Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2019

Regulation 52 of the Adult Placement Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2019

Regulation 42 of the Regulated Adoption Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2019

Regulatory requirement

The Regulations set out the requirement for the RI to visit the service at least once every three months. 

The statutory guidance specifies that the RI visit the service in person to monitor the performance of the service in relation to its statement of purpose and to inform the quality of care review[1]. One of the main aims of the visit is to understand how well the service is meeting people’s needs from their perspective. It is therefore essential the RI engages in meaningful ways with staff and people supported by the service during the visit. 

The visit includes the following:

• talking to, with consent and in private, a sample of individuals[2] using the service and their representatives (if applicable)
• meeting with members of staff
• inspecting the premises[3], a selection of records of events; and
• any complaints records.

For domiciliary support services, this may also include:

• visiting a representative sample of individuals in their own home;

For regulated fostering services and adult placement services, this also includes:

• talking to, with consent and in private foster parents / adult placement carers (as applicable)

The RI must ensure systems are in place to provide evidence that visits have taken place and have been logged and documented. 

The statutory guidance in relation to Regulation 73 of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017 was amended in 2024 to set out what evidence the RI must ensure is documented about their visits. This includes: 

• the date of the visit
• details of discussions with staff and people using the service
• details of records reviewed, and
• details of the outcome of the visit such as actions taken or needed to improve the service

We expect those services covered by the other regulations listed above to document the same information. There is no format specified for documenting this. 

Quality of care review and RI visits 

RIs must also put suitable arrangements in place to monitor, review and continuously improve the quality of care and support provided by the service. The Quality of Care Review[4]  is an important part of this process which enables RIs/providers to identify what is going well, what needs to improve and what actions are needed to make those improvements. 

We have provided detailed guidance “Supporting continuous improvement: guidance on carrying out a quality of care review”. This reflects the role of RI visits in overseeing the quality of care and support being provided. 

This guidance is available on our website

[1] The quality of service review in the case of a regulated adoption service and regulated advocacy service

[2] Children, in the case of a regulated fostering service or regulated adoption service

[3] For those services regulated under the 2019 Regulations, this means the premises of the service provider

[4] The quality of service review for a regulated adoption service and a regulated advocacy service