Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016

59 Specifying criteria for application of market oversight regime

(1) The Welsh Ministers must by regulations specify criteria for determining whether (subject to regulations under subsection (4)) section 61 applies to a service provider in respect of regulated services.

(2) In specifying the criteria, the Welsh Ministers must have regard to the following in particular—

(a) the amount of care and support provided by a service provider,

(b) the geographical concentration of a service provider’s business, and

(c) the extent to which a service provider specialises in the provision of particular types of regulated service.

(3) The Welsh Ministers must—

(a) at such times as they think appropriate, review the criteria for the time being specified in the regulations, and

(b) publish information about how the matters mentioned in subsection (2), and any other matters to which they have regard in specifying the criteria, are to be measured.

(4) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations provide that section 61 does not apply, or applies only to the extent specified, to a specified service provider or to a service provider of a specified description, regardless of whether that service provider or a service provider of that description would satisfy the criteria.

(5) The circumstances in which regulations may be made under subsection (4) include those in which the Welsh Ministers are satisfied that certain service providers are already subject to a regulatory regime comparable to that provided for by sections 61 and 62; and regulations made in such circumstances may, for example, make provision requiring specified persons to co-operate or to share information of a specified description.

(6) Before making regulations under this section the Welsh Ministers must consult any persons they think appropriate.

(7) But the requirement to consult does not apply to regulations which—

(a) amend other regulations made under this section, and

(b) do not, in the opinion of the Welsh Ministers, effect any substantial change in the provision made by the regulations to be amended.