The Regulated Services (Registration) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026

Made: 11 February 2026

Coming into force: 1 April 2026

The Welsh Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 6(1A), 11(4), 14(1A) and 187(1) of, and paragraph 4(4) of Schedule 1A to, the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016[^f00001], make the following Regulations.

Title and coming into force

1

• (1) The title of these Regulations is the Regulated Services (Registration) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026.

• (2) They come into force on 1 April 2026.

Interpretation

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In these Regulations, “the principal Regulations” means the Regulated Services (Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2017[^f00002].

Amendments to the principal Regulations

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The principal Regulations are amended in accordance with regulations 4 to 10.

Amendment to regulation 2 (interpretation)

4

In regulation 2(1)—

• (a) in the definition of “applicant”—

• (i) after “means” omit “either”;

• (ii) in sub-paragraph (a), after “Act,” omit “or”;

• (iii) in sub-paragraph (b), after “Act”, for “;” substitute “, or”;

• (iv) after sub-paragraph (b) insert—

(c) the person making an application under section 6C of, and paragraph (4) of Schedule 1A to, the Act, for the provider’s registration, in respect of the existing service, to be subject to the requirement in section 6A(1) of the Act;

• (b) At the appropriate places insert—

• “charitable company limited by guarantee without a share capital” (“cwmni elusennol cyfyngedig drwy warant heb gyfalaf cyfrannau”) has the meaning given in section 6B(2) of the Act;

• “charitable incorporated organisation” (“sefydliad elusennol corfforedig”) has the meaning given in section 6B(3) of the Act;

• “charitable registered society” (“cymdeithas gofrestredig elusennol”) has the meaning given in section 6B(4) of the Act;

• “community interest company limited by guarantee without a share capital” (“cwmni buddiant cymunedol cyfyngedig drwy warant heb gyfalaf cyfrannau”) has the meaning given in section 6B(5) of the Act;

• “not-for-profit entity” (“endid nid-er-elw”) means an entity which meets the definition in section 6A(2) of the Act;”,
• ““restricted children’s service” (“gwasanaeth plant o dan gyfyngiad”) has the meaning given in section 2A of the Act;

Amendment to Part 2 (application for registration as a service provider)

5

After regulation 3A insert—

(3B) (1) This regulation applies where the application is an application to register to provide a service which is a restricted children’s service. (2) The applicant must, in addition to the information specified in regulation 3, provide the Welsh Ministers with the information listed in paragraph 7A of Schedule 1. (3) But the Welsh Ministers may waive any of the requirements to provide information specified in Schedule 1 if— (a) the applicant is a not-for-profit entity, (b) the applicant is applying to register in respect of a restricted children’s service to be provided at, from, or in relation to a place where it is being provided by a service provider at the time the application is made (“an existing provider”), (c) it appears to the Welsh Ministers that the intention of the applicant is to take over the provision of the restricted children’s service at, from or in relation to the place where it is being provided, under an agreement with the existing provider, and (d) the Welsh Ministers consider that it is appropriate to waive the requirement, having regard to information which the Welsh Ministers hold about the existing provider.

Amendment to Part 3 (application for variation of registration as a service provider)

6

After regulation 11 insert—

(11A) An application for variation of registration made pursuant to section 6C of, and paragraph 4 of Schedule 1A to, the Act must contain the information listed in paragraphs 7 and 7A of Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

7

For regulation 12 substitute—

(12) (1) An application for variation of registration as a service provider must be made in the form of an on-line application which is accessed from the pages of the website maintained by the Welsh Government which have been established for the purposes of informing service providers about the procedure for variation of registration under Part 1 of the Act. (2) Paragraph (1) also applies to an application for variation of registration made pursuant to section 6C of, and paragraph (4) of Schedule 1A to, the Act.

Content and form of application to cancel registration

8

After regulation 13 insert—

(14) An application for cancellation of registration made pursuant to section 14(1) of the Act must contain the following— (a) the proposed date on which the cancellation of the service provider’s registration should take effect, (b) the reason for making the application, (c) in respect of each regulated service that the service provider provides, a statement setting out how the service provider intends to comply with the requirements imposed by regulations made under section 27 of the Act until the service ceases to be provided, and (d) in respect of each regulated service provided, detail of any notice given by the service provider about its intention to cease providing the service to— (i) service users; (ii) the local authority within whose area the service is being provided; (iii) the Local Health Board within whose area the service is being provided; (iv) any other person. (15) An application for cancellation of registration as a service provider must be made in the form of an on-line application which is accessed from the pages of the website maintained by the Welsh Government which have been established for the purposes of informing service providers about the procedure for cancellation of registration under Part 1 of the Act.

Amendments to Schedule 1

9

In Schedule 1, for paragraph 7 substitute—

(7) (1) Where the organisation is a body corporate other than a local authority or Local Health Board— (a) the name of the organisation; (b) the address of the registered office of the organisation; (c) if different from the address of the registered office or if there is no registered office, the address of the principal office of the organisation; (d) the electronic mail address and telephone number of the organisation; (e) if the organisation is a company, the company number; (f) if the organisation is a charity that is not an exempt charity, the charity number; (g) if the organisation is a company and is a subsidiary of a holding company— (i) the name and address of the registered office of the holding company; (ii) the electronic mail address and telephone number of the holding company; (iii) the company number of the holding company; (iv) if the holding company is a charity that is not an exempt charity, the charity number of the holding company; (v) the name and address of any other subsidiary of the holding company; (vi) the electronic mail address and telephone number of any other subsidiary of the holding company; (vii) the company number of any other subsidiary of the holding company; (viii) if the subsidiary is a charity that is not an exempt charity, the charity number of the subsidiary of the holding company. (2) In this paragraph, “exempt charity” has the meaning given in section 22 of the Charities Act 2011[^f00003].

10

After paragraph 7 insert—

(7A) Where the organisation is a not-for-profit entity and the application relates to a regulated service that is a restricted children’s service— (a) a copy of the organisation’s constitutional documents, including articles of association and memorandum of association or equivalent documents; (b) where the entity is a charitable registered society— (i) evidence of registration with the Financial Conduct Authority, and (ii) evidence that the Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have recognised that the organisation is a charity for the purposes of any relief or exemption under an enactment relating to taxation.

Revocation

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The Regulated Services (Registration) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026[^f00004] are revoked.

Signed

Dawn Bowden — Minister for Children and Social Care, under the authority of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, one of the Welsh Ministers — 11 February 2026

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Regulated Services (Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2017 (“the principal Regulations”) make provision about the form and content of applications for registration and applications for variation of registration under Part 1 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”).

These Regulations revoke and replace the Regulated Services (Registration) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. These Regulations amend the principal Regulations to give effect to changes introduced by section 6A(1) of the 2016 Act, which restricts the provision of certain children’s services to local authorities and not-for-profit entities. These services, referred to in these Regulations as “restricted children’s services”, include children’s home services, secure accommodation services and fostering services.

Regulation 4 inserts definitions into regulation 2 of the principal Regulations for “not-for-profit entity”, “restricted children’s service” and certain types of charitable and community interest organisations. Regulation 4 also amends the definition of “applicant” to include persons who are making an application under section 6C of, and paragraph (4) of Schedule 1A to, the Act, for their registration to be subject to the requirement in section 6A(1) of the Act.

Regulation 5 inserts a new regulation 3B into the principal Regulations, which requires applicants seeking to register to provide a restricted children’s service to provide additional information specified in new paragraph 7A of Schedule 1. It also enables the Welsh Ministers to waive certain application requirements if the applicant is a not‑for‑profit entity taking over a restricted children’s service at the same place under an agreement with the existing provider, and if, having regard to information held about the existing provider, the Welsh Ministers consider a waiver appropriate. This enables the Welsh Ministers to adopt a streamlined approach to registration where an existing restricted children’s service is being transferred to a not-for-profit entity which meets the requirements of section 6A(1) of the 2016 Act and the Welsh Ministers already hold information about that service.

Regulation 6 inserts new regulation 11A. New regulation 11A requires applicants seeking to vary their registration to become subject to the requirement in section 6A(1) of the 2016 Act to provide information specified in new paragraph 7A of Schedule 1.

Regulation 7 substitutes regulation 12 to make provision about the form of applications to vary registration, including those made under section 6C of, and paragraph 4 of Schedule 1A to, the 2016 Act.

Regulations 8 and 9 insert new regulations 14 and 15, which make provision about the content and form of applications to cancel registration as a service provider.

Regulation 10 amends Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations. It substitutes paragraph 7 to update the information required from corporate applicants and inserts new paragraph 7A, which sets out the constitutional and evidential documents that must be provided by not-for-profit entities applying to provide restricted children’s services.

Regulation 11 revokes the Regulated Services (Registration) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

The effect of the amendments made by regulations 1 to 7 and regulation 10 is to ensure that applications to register, or to vary registration in respect of restricted children’s services, include sufficient information to demonstrate compliance with the statutory requirement that such services are provided by not-for-profit entities.

The effect of the amendments made by regulations 8 and 9 is to set out the requirements for an application to cancel registration as a service provider.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ and on the website at www.gov.wales.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2016 anaw 2. Sections 6(1A), 6C, 11(4) and 14(1A) were inserted by sections 3(2), 4(2), 8(2) and 15(2) respectively, of the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025 (asc 1).

[^f00002]: S.I. 2017/1098 (W. 278).

[^f00003]: 2011 c. 25.

[^f00004]: W.S.I. 2026/2.