CQC Statement of Purpose: What to Include

The statement of purpose is the document most care homes write once at registration and never look at again — which is exactly why it so often turns up as a finding. It is a legal requirement, it has a defined minimum content, and it carries a duty to keep it current that most managers do not realise exists. An out-of-date statement of purpose is a small, avoidable, and entirely self-inflicted compliance gap.

This guide covers what the statement of purpose must contain, the duty to keep it under review, and how to make sure yours matches the service an inspector actually finds.

What a statement of purpose is

A statement of purpose is a document that sets out what your service is, what it does, and who runs it. It is a registration requirement under the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. Regulation 12 puts it plainly: "The registered person must give the Commission a statement of purpose containing the information listed in Schedule 3."

It is not a marketing document and not a care plan. It is a factual statement of the service's aims, scope, and accountable people — the reference point CQC uses to understand what you are registered to do and to check that what you do matches what you said you would do.

What it must contain (Schedule 3)

Schedule 3 to the 2009 Regulations sets the minimum content. Your statement of purpose must include:

1. The aims and objectives of the service provider in carrying on the regulated activity.
2. The kinds of services provided and the range of service users' needs those services are intended to meet.
3. The full name of the service provider and of any registered manager, with their business address, telephone number and, where available, email address.
4. The legal status of the service provider (for example sole trader, partnership, or limited company).
5. Details of the locations at which the services are carried on.

That is the floor, not the ceiling. Many homes add detail on their care model, the needs they specialise in (dementia, nursing, respite), the size and layout of the home, and their values. Extra detail is fine and often helpful — but the five Schedule 3 elements must all be present and accurate.

The duty most managers miss: keeping it current

Regulation 12 does not stop at "write one." It requires the registered person to "keep under review and, where appropriate, revise the statement of purpose" — and crucially, to "provide written details of any revision to the statement of purpose to the Commission within 28 days of any such revision."

That 28-day duty is the trap. The events that change a statement of purpose are routine: a new registered manager, a change of legal status, a new building or unit, a change in the needs you accommodate. Each of these is a revision, and each triggers a 28-day window to notify CQC in writing. Miss it, and you have a current document that is out of date with CQC's records and a duty quietly unmet.

This connects directly to your statutory notification duties — a change of registered manager is notifiable under Regulation 15 and a statement of purpose revision under Regulation 12. The two duties run in parallel for the same event.

How an out-of-date statement becomes a finding

An inspector reads your statement of purpose before they arrive and checks it against what they see. Mismatches raise questions:

• Wrong manager named — suggests the change of manager was never properly processed, and possibly never notified.
• Aims that do not match the service — a statement promising specialist dementia care in a home with no dementia provision is a credibility problem.
• Service user needs that have drifted — if you now accommodate nursing needs but the statement says residential only, your registration scope and your practice may not align.
• Old address or legal status — a basic accuracy failure that suggests the document is not reviewed.

None of these are hard to fix. All of them are easy to avoid with a review habit.

A simple maintenance routine

Treat the statement of purpose as a living document with a fixed review point:

1. Review it annually as a standing item — many managers tie it to the same point each year as the Provider Information Return or the annual policy review.
2. Review it on any trigger event — new manager, new nominated individual, change of legal status, new location, change in the needs you accommodate.
3. When you revise it, notify CQC within 28 days in writing, and log the date you did so.
4. Keep version control — date each version and keep the previous ones, so you can show when changes were made and notified.

A statement of purpose that is reviewed annually and updated on triggers is never a finding. It is also a quiet piece of Well-Led evidence: a provider that keeps its foundational registration document accurate is a provider that runs an organised service.

Where it fits in your wider compliance

The statement of purpose sits alongside your registration certificate, your Well-Led evidence requirements, and your policy set as the documents that define the service on paper. Keeping them consistent with each other — and with reality — is the substance of good governance.

If you want to check whether your registration documents and evidence hold together before your next assessment, the free CQC Readiness Self-Assessment walks through what CQC expects and flags where your documentation is thin or out of date.

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This is general guidance based on the published Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 and CQC guidance current at the date above. Requirements can change — always check the current guidance on cqc.org.uk and the regulations on legislation.gov.uk for your specific situation. Not legal advice.

Sources

• Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, regulation 12 — statement of purpose
• Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, Schedule 3 — information required in statement of purpose
• Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, regulation 15 — notice of changes