14 August 2026 · BG Brian · 11 min read
A nominated individual is the person a care provider names to supervise how its regulated activity is managed, and to act as the main contact for the regulator at organisational level. Where a provider registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an organisation, such as a limited company, rather than an individual or a partnership, it must nominate one. The requirement sits in regulation 6 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, made under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
The regulation sets out who can take the role. The nominated individual must be employed by the organisation as a director, manager or secretary, and must have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience needed to supervise the management of the regulated activity properly. It is not a title that can simply be added to an existing job description.
The role is about oversight and assurance. The nominated individual makes sure that the people running each location have the support, resources and challenge they need, and that the organisation knows how its services are really performing. That means having real visibility of each location even when they are not there every day. In practice this includes visiting services, reviewing audit and incident data, speaking to people who use the service and staff, and making sure the board or owners hear about problems early.
The nominated individual is also CQC’s point of contact at provider level. They are who the regulator expects to hear from on registration, changes to the service and serious concerns.
One point is often misunderstood. The Department of Health and Social Care’s care workforce pathway, updated in July 2026, states that a nominated individual has no statutory responsibilities other than those of any other employee. Legal responsibility for meeting the fundamental standards in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 rests with the registered provider, and the registered manager carries their own personal duties. That does not make the role a formality. The provider has to decide the individual is fit for it, CQC can test that judgement, and weak oversight at this level shows up in inspection findings under regulation 17 (good governance).
The two roles are complementary, and CQC expects providers to understand where one ends and the other begins.
| Nominated individual | Registered manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Level | Organisation | Location or service |
| Focus | Oversight, assurance and challenge | Day to day running of the regulated activity |
| Registered with CQC as a person | No, nominated by the provider | Yes, with personal legal duties |
| Presence | Visits and monitors, not usually based at the location | Based at the service and available daily |
| Typical evidence | Visit reports, governance reports, board or owner updates | Care records, rotas, audits, supervision and incident logs |
In a small provider, one person may hold both roles. That is not prohibited, but it removes the independent challenge the nominated individual role is meant to bring, so the provider should decide how oversight will still be provided, for example through an external audit or a non-executive director.
The provider must be satisfied that its nominated individual is fit for the role, and CQC assesses this as part of registration, which can include an interview. Expect to be asked how you supervise the management of each service, how you know what is happening there, and what you would do if standards fell.
Directors of provider organisations must also meet the fit and proper persons requirement in regulation 5 of the 2014 Regulations, and regulation 19 covers the recruitment of fit and proper staff more widely. The care workforce pathway expects a nominated individual to hold knowledge and skills aligned with the registered manager role at least, because they must be able to support and lead registered managers.
These scenarios are illustrative, not reports on named services.
A nominated individual for a homecare provider reviews call monitoring data each month. They notice that late and shortened calls are rising in one rural area. They challenge the registered manager, check that rotas reflect travel time, review missed medication records and report the findings to the board with an action plan. This is the type of evidence that supports a good governance judgement under regulation 17 and the safe care expectations of regulation 12.
In a provider supporting adults with a learning disability, the nominated individual makes unannounced visits to several tenancies, speaks to tenants and keyworkers, and looks at the use of restrictive practices. They check that services follow CQC’s Right support, right care, right culture guidance and that staff have completed the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training. They also test whether the provider is confusing its housing role with its care role, which matters because CQC regulates the personal care, not the tenancy.
A nominated individual for a group of care homes reads the falls, pressure ulcer, medication error and safeguarding figures for each home side by side. When one home’s safeguarding referrals rise, they visit, review the rota and speak to relatives and night staff. Where a person is deprived of their liberty, they ask for assurance that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 safeguards are in place, with applications made and reviewed on time.
In a nursing home, the nominated individual has a further duty to understand clinical risk. They make sure there is a clinical lead with the right professional registration, that nurse revalidation dates are tracked, and that clinical audits, such as wound care and tissue viability, are acted on. They treat a rise in hospital admissions or pressure injuries as a governance signal, not just a clinical one.
Terminology changes across regulators, which causes confusion for providers who work in both adult and children’s services.
In children’s homes, the equivalent role is the responsible individual. Where the registered provider is an organisation, it must appoint one under the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. Regulation 26 requires the responsible individual to have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of each home. In practice they scrutinise the registered manager’s regulation 45 review of quality of care and read the independent person’s regulation 44 reports. A responsible individual might notice, for example, that missing episodes cluster around one weekend shift pattern, and require a change of staffing and a meeting with the local authority.
In residential family centres, the Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 also use the term responsible individual, who must be a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the organisation and is responsible for supervising the management of the centre. Monthly visits under regulation 25 are a key part of the role, and Ofsted will interview a responsible individual who is new to it. A responsible individual in a family centre might use those visits to test whether parenting assessments are fair, timely and shaped by the families’ own views.
In supported accommodation for looked after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17, the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 require a nominated individual, who is usually a director and is the organisation’s point of contact with Ofsted, and a registered service manager who is accountable for the services. A proposed nominated individual completes Ofsted’s SC2 form, and the provider tells Ofsted of any change using the SC3 form. A nominated individual overseeing several shared houses would be expected to look at incident trends, how young people’s views are gathered and whether any unregistered placements are creeping in.
Providers most often get into difficulty in five ways. The first is appointing a nominated individual in name only, with no record of what they actually do. The second is giving one person too many services to oversee properly. The third is a nominated individual who is never seen at the locations and cannot talk about them. The fourth is combining the nominated individual and registered manager roles without any independent challenge. The fifth is failing to tell the regulator promptly when the nominated individual leaves or changes. A gap in oversight is also a gap in the evidence that inspectors look for.
Inspectors cannot see good oversight unless it is recorded. A nominated individual should keep dated visit reports, minutes of governance meetings, audit summaries with agreed actions, and evidence of what happened as a result. Under CQC’s current framework this supports the well-led key question, and CQC’s consultation in 2026 on a revised adult social care framework does not change the underlying regulations. Providers should check which framework is in use when they prepare.
Both CQC and Ofsted expect people in senior roles to be supported, supervised and kept up to date. Regulation 18 of the 2014 Regulations requires the support, training, professional development and supervision that staff need to carry out their role, and regulation 19 requires providers to be sure that the people they appoint are fit and proper. In children’s homes, regulation 29 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 covers continuing professional development for the registered person and the responsible individual, and regulation 33 requires practice related supervision. A nominated individual or responsible individual is often the one person nobody supervises, which is why outside support can be worth having.
Caring Alliance supports nominated individuals and responsible individuals in four practical ways.
Appointing the right person. Our Safer Recruitment of Management service helps providers appoint nominated individuals, responsible individuals, directors and registered managers. It covers the role specification, interview panel support and competency assessment, enhanced DBS and background checks, and a fit and proper person file that is ready for inspection. It also supports the notification to CQC or Ofsted when a management change is made.
Learning the role through mentoring. Our Mentoring and Coaching service offers one to one sessions and ongoing monthly support for leaders, grounded in regulation 18 and regulation 33. It is useful for a newly appointed nominated individual preparing for a fit person interview, or for an established one who wants a sounding board on governance, inspection readiness and challenge of registered managers.
Building the evidence of oversight. Our Compliance and Quality Assurance service includes compliance audits, quality assurance systems, and mock inspections following current CQC or Ofsted methodology. These produce the audit schedules, action plans and governance records that a nominated individual needs to show that oversight is real.
Training built around your service. Our Bespoke Training for Care Providers starts with a needs analysis and covers domiciliary care, supported living, supported accommodation, day centres, children’s homes and residential care. For leaders who also run supervision, recruitment or assessments, our endorsed Senior Practitioners Courses offer Level 3 managing and facilitation qualifications in supervision, safer recruitment and care assessments, delivered online, at our Cheadle centre or as blended learning.
If you are preparing for a fit person interview, reviewing your governance, or appointing a nominated individual for the first time, contact the team.
A nominated individual is the person a care provider names to supervise how its regulated activity is managed and to act as the regulator's main contact at organisational level. A CQC-registered provider that is an organisation must nominate one under regulation 6 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009.
No. The registered manager runs a location day-to-day and is registered with CQC as a person. The nominated individual provides oversight and assurance across the organisation and is nominated by the provider.
Only where the provider is an organisation, such as a limited company, rather than an individual or a partnership.
Legal responsibility for meeting the regulations rests with the registered provider, and the registered manager has their own duties. The Department of Health and Social Care's care workforce pathway states that a nominated individual has no statutory responsibilities beyond those of any other employee, but weak oversight still shows in inspection findings.
Children's homes and residential family centres use the term responsible individual. Supported accommodation for looked-after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17 uses the term nominated individual under the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023.
Caring Alliance offers safer recruitment support for senior appointments, mentoring and coaching, compliance audits and mock inspections, and bespoke training for care providers.
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Last updated: 18 October 2026
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