Non-Regulated Activities: What CQC Does and Doesn’t Cover

CQC regulates specific “regulated activities” defined in law – most relevantly for adult social care, “personal care” (help with things like washing, dressing, and eating, provided to someone unable to do it themselves because of age, illness or disability) and providing accommodation for people who need nursing or personal care.

Some services sit outside that scope even though they support people who might separately also receive regulated care: purely domestic support such as cleaning, shopping or meal preparation with no personal care involved; befriending, companionship or wellbeing visits with no personal care element; transport; and some forms of supported living, where personal care is arranged and delivered by a separate, CQC-registered provider rather than the accommodation provider itself.

Getting this boundary right matters in both directions – providing personal care without being registered is a criminal offence, but registering activities that don’t actually meet the legal definition just creates unnecessary regulatory burden. When a service sits close to the line, it’s worth checking directly with CQC or getting independent advice rather than assuming based on how the service is marketed.

Last updated: 19 August 2026