Sponsor Licence Compliance for Care Homes

Care home sponsors carry a heavier compliance burden than almost any other sector: sponsor licence duties stack on top of CQC's own regulatory framework, and an inspection by one regulator routinely feeds intelligence to the other. The good news is that most of the work is the same evidence, organised once.

The CQC gate

Under Immigration Rules SW 6.1B, sponsors using SOC 6135 (care workers and home carers) or 6136 (senior care workers) in England must hold current CQC registration and be carrying out CQC-regulated activities. Private households are excluded.

Salary protection — but watch the date

SOC 6135 and 6136 sit on the Immigration Salary List with a removal date of 22 July 2028, protecting the £33,400 discounted threshold until then. Plan recruitment and renewals around that date — workers extending beyond July 2028 may face the full general threshold unless the list is revised.

Regulation 18 — staffing

Includes Oliver McGowan mandatory training on learning disability and autism, mandated by the Health and Care Act 2022. Tier 1 and Tier 2 must be evidenced per worker.

Regulation 19 — fit and proper persons

DBS checks at the right level (enhanced for personal care), kept current. Reference checks documented. Conduct issues recorded.

Care Certificate

16 standards as of the March 2025 update. New starters working towards completion within an agreed timeframe. Skills for Care publishes the canonical standard set.

Sponsor reporting still applies

All the standard 10-working-day reporting triggers apply: salary, role, hours, work location, unauthorised absence. Care homes that operate multiple sites must be especially careful to keep work location reporting current — moving a worker between two of your own sites without reporting is still a reportable change.