The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.
The CQC assesses local authorities across England to ensure they are fulfilling their statutory duties under the Care Act 2014.
The CQC has completed a local authority assessment for Bristol City Council.
They published the assessment report on 30 May 2025 and have rated our adult social care as ‘Good'.
Find Bristol City Council's CQC assessment report.
A ‘Good' CQC rating indicates that Bristol adult social care is performing well and is broadly meeting the requirements of the Care Act (2014).
It means that adult social care provision in our city is safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led.
Whilst the assessment shows that essential standards are being met, it also recognises that there may still be areas for improvement.
We're committed to ensuring continuous improvement from the first point someone reaches out to the council to receiving the care and support they need and ensuring timely responses at every step.
Areas identified within the report for improvement are already included in our adult social care continuous improvement and transformation programme, which include:
- reducing waiting times for assessments
- provision of support for unpaid carers
- increasing the availability of accessible housing and provision of supported living accommodation for young people
Assessment timeline
The CQC began its assessment of Bristol City Council's Adult Social Care services in June 2024, requesting information on performance, partnerships, and processes over the previous 12 months.
In July 2024, we submitted pdf our evidence and self-assessment(1.20 MB) .
We also have an pdf Easy Read version of the self-assessment(9.25 MB) .
In December 2024, senior Adult Social Care officers presented an overview of local services to the CQC inspection team.
This was followed by a 4-day inspection in January 2025, during which 7 CQC inspectors engaged with council staff, senior leaders, care providers, and people with lived experience of the council's services.
During the on-site visit, the CQC assessment team interviewed a range of people, including:
- people who draw on our care and support
- carers and circles of support
- colleagues in adult social care
- provider partners
The assessment team also met with:
- the Chief Executive and Leader of Bristol City Council
- our Executive Director of Adults and Communities
- our Director of Adult Social Care
If you have any questions about the CQC assessment, email: ascinformation@bristol.gov.uk
More information about how the CQC carry out their assessment process can be found on the CQC website.
In December 2023 we invited the Local Government Association (LGA) to carry out a 2-day 'peer review challenge' in preparation for the CQC assessment.
The exercise mirrored as far as possible the way the CQC will carry out their assessment, which helped colleagues to know what to expect and feel prepared for the 'real thing'.
Following the review, the pdf LGA produced a report(413 KB) which:
- provided feedback
- identified good practice and opportunities for development or improvement
As a result, pdf 8 pieces of work that were implemented to improve the way we provide services for those accessing support from Bristol(413 KB) .
You can also find pdf our vision for adult social care(508 KB) .