Supported living audit tool: all 34 quality statements, for learning disability and autism services
A self-audit framework for supported living services, structured the way CQC assesses you: the five key questions, every quality statement under them, and the fundamental standard each one relates to. Browse all 34 below, or request a copy tailored to your service and we'll send a scoped working template.
There is no official CQC audit tool. CQC publishes the assessment framework, the regulations and its statutory guidance for learning disability and autism services, Right support, right care, right culture. It does not publish a checklist of what evidences each quality statement.
We built this one from a version we tailored for a learning disability and supported living provider, then checked every standard it names against its source. The quality statements and regulation titles are CQC's, quoted accurately. The "what to check" column is ours. Use it as a prompt for your own audit.
The quality statements are CQC's, from the assessment framework. The regulation titles are from the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You'll find the other standards the checks name under Sources, below the tables.
Last reviewed: 7 October 2026.
Nothing on this page is regulatory advice: see the terms of use. For a working copy you can fill in, request one tailored to your service below.
Running a home care agency? Use the home care audit tool, written for domiciliary and live-in care.
Safe 8 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Learning culture | Trace one incident from the first report to a change in practice. Can you show every team that supports that person heard about it, including staff who work alone? | Reg 17Good governance |
| Safe systems, pathways and transitions | Take the last hospital admission or move. Did the person's hospital passport and current support plan go with them, and did you record the handover both ways? | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Safeguarding | Do you log every concern, refer it to the local authority where required and notify CQC? Check money handling records against receipts, and look for the warning signs in CQC's closed cultures guidance. | Reg 13Safeguarding from abuse |
| Involving people to manage risks | Did you write each behaviour support plan with the person, and review it since their needs changed? Record every restrictive practice with the reason, and show staff use it only as a last resort and for the shortest possible time. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Safe environments | Does each person's home have a current risk assessment for the care you give there, and do you service the equipment you supply (Reg 15)? CQC regulates the care and the landlord answers for the building, so log the safety issues you report and chase them. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Safe and effective staffing | Do staff hours match each person's commissioned support hours, including one-to-one time? Check every staff member has the learning disability and autism training their role needs under the Oliver McGowan code of practice. | Reg 18Staffing |
| Infection prevention and control | Who leads on infection control and hygiene concerns in people's homes? Check you audit the care you give against your IPC procedures and close the findings. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Medicines optimisation | Has the prescriber reviewed every psychotropic medicine in line with STOMP, and do you record why each one is prescribed? Check you record each person's level of medicines support, and that MAR charts match what staff gave. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
Effective 6 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Assessing needs | Does each person's assessment cover how they communicate, what they do for themselves and their agreed support hours? Check you reviewed it when their needs changed. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Delivering evidence-based care and treatment | Can staff name the guidance behind a person's support, such as their behaviour support plan, epilepsy protocol or eating and drinking guidelines from speech and language therapy? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| How staff, teams and services work together | Can you show input from the community learning disability team, the GP and other professionals, and what you changed because of it? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Supporting people to live healthier lives | Has each person had their learning disability annual health check with their GP in the last year? Check their health action plan is current and staff follow it. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Monitoring and improving outcomes | Which outcomes do you track for each person, such as new skills, time in the community or fewer incidents? Show the trend over time. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Consent to care and treatment | Do you assess capacity decision by decision and record best interests decisions? DoLS covers care homes and hospitals, so a deprivation of liberty in supported living needs a Court of Protection order. Review each case against the Supreme Court's June 2026 test. | Reg 11Need for consent |
Caring 5 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Kindness, compassion and dignity | With the person's agreement, spend time in their home. Note how staff speak to them and about them, and whether staff knock and wait for an answer. | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Treating people as individuals | Does the support plan describe this person: their history, what matters to them, how they communicate and what a good day looks like? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Independence, choice and control | Look for recorded choices about food, activities, money and who supports them. In supported living the person holds the tenancy, so check staff respect their rights as the tenant. | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Responding to people's immediate needs | When someone becomes distressed, do staff follow their support plan? Check the records show what happened and what helped. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Workforce wellbeing and enablement | Do staff get regular supervision, and does your lone working procedure work for staff who support someone alone? Note: this moves to Well-led under the draft 2026 frameworks. | Reg 18Staffing |
Responsive 7 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Person-centred care | Did you write each support plan with the person, or with family or an advocate where they need help, and review it with them? Note: this moves to Caring under the draft 2026 frameworks. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Care provision, integration, and continuity | Does each person have a consistent team who knows them? Check how you cover absences, and whether the person knows the cover staff. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Providing information | Do you give people information in the format they need, such as easy read, pictures or objects? Check you record and flag each person's communication needs in line with the Accessible Information Standard (DAPB1605). | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Listening to and involving people | Can each person raise a concern in a way that works for them? Check the complaints log includes the issues staff sorted out informally. | Reg 16Receiving and acting on complaints |
| Equity in access | Do people get the health appointments and community activities they ask for, and do you record the reasonable adjustments they need? | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Equity in experiences and outcomes | Record people's protected characteristics, then compare outcomes such as health checks, incidents and time in the community across groups. | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Planning for the future | Do plans cover the changes people want, such as more independence or a new home, and end of life where it's relevant, in a form the person understands? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
Well-led 8 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Shared direction and culture | Ask three staff what right support, right care, right culture means for the person they support today. Specific answers that match are your evidence. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders | Is the registered manager in post and visible at every address you support? Check each team knows who's on call, and that you notify CQC of any absence of 28 days or more. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Freedom to speak up | Do staff who work alone know how to raise a concern outside their own team? Show what happened the last time someone did. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion | Is each staff file complete against Schedule 3, with an enhanced DBS check that includes the adults' barred list? Check you make and record reasonable adjustments for staff who need them. | Reg 19Fit and proper persons employed |
| Governance, management and sustainability | Do you run an audit schedule for every address you support, and track each finding to closure with an owner and a date? | Reg 17Good governance |
| Partnerships and communities | Show how you work with commissioners, the community learning disability team, advocates, families and landlords, and what you changed because of what they said. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Learning, improvement and innovation | Name one change you made in the last quarter because of something you learned at one address, and show it reached the others. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Environmental sustainability – sustainable development | CQC still assesses this today, and left it out of the draft adult social care framework, so expect it to fall away. | Reg 17Good governance |
Two of these move under the draft 2026 frameworks. Person-centred care moves from Responsive into Caring, and workforce wellbeing moves from Caring into Well-led. Supported living sits in the adult social care framework, and our free CQC framework crosswalk maps all 34 statements to what replaces them.
Two things work differently in supported living
CQC regulates the care. The landlord answers for the building.
Where the housing and the care sit under separate agreements, CQC regulates the personal care you provide and the person's home sits outside its regulation. Inspectors look at how you support people to stay safe there. In a person's own home, Regulation 15 covers the equipment you supply.
DoLS covers care homes and hospitals only.
In supported living, a deprivation of liberty needs a Court of Protection order. On 2 June 2026 the Supreme Court changed the test for what counts as a deprivation of liberty, and the government expects many people under current DoLS authorisations to fall out of scope. The same test applies to Court of Protection cases, so review each person's arrangements against it and watch for the government's interim guidance.
Sources for the standards the checks name
- CQC: Right support, right care, right culture
- CQC: Housing with care: guidance on regulated activities
- CQC: Infection prevention and control in supported living services and Extra Care housing
- CQC: How CQC identifies and responds to closed cultures
- legislation.gov.uk: Regulation 15, Regulated Activities Regulations 2014
- SCIE: Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards at a glance
- GOV.UK: UK Supreme Court 2026 judgment on what constitutes a deprivation of liberty
- GOV.UK: Oliver McGowan code of practice
- GOV.UK: Positive and Proactive Care: reducing the need for restrictive interventions
- NHS England: STOMP and STAMP
- NHS England: Accessible Information Standard (DAPB1605)
- NHS: Learning disability annual health checks
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Common questions
Does CQC inspect supported living services?
CQC regulates the personal care you provide in supported living, where the housing and the care sit under separate agreements. The person's home sits outside its regulation, so inspectors look at how you support people to receive safe care there.
What is Right support, right care, right culture?
CQC's statutory guidance for services for autistic people and people with a learning disability. It sets out three things CQC expects: a model of care and setting that maximises people's choice, control and independence; care that is person-centred and protects dignity, privacy and human rights; and a culture where leaders and staff help people lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.
Does DoLS apply in supported living?
No. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards cover care homes and hospitals. In supported living, a deprivation of liberty needs a Court of Protection order. The Supreme Court changed the test for what counts as a deprivation of liberty on 2 June 2026, so review each person's arrangements against the new test.
How often should a supported living service audit?
There is no single legally required frequency. Regulation 17 requires systems to assess, monitor and improve quality. In practice that means a schedule you follow at every address you support, with an owner and a closure date for each finding.
Can one audit tool cover residential learning disability services and supported living?
The 34 quality statements are the same for both. The evidence changes: tenancy rights, Court of Protection orders and lone working in supported living, and premises checks and DoLS in residential homes. Request a copy and we'll scope it to the services you run.
Or keep every address inspection-ready
CompliantCare runs this audit at every address you support, on schedule, and gives each finding a named owner and a due date. Inspection Readiness updates live from your policies, audits, training, incidents and risk register, so you spot a gap at one address before the inspector does.