Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) / Arolygiaeth Gofal Cymru (AGC)

What Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) / Arolygiaeth Gofal Cymru (AGC) does

Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) / Arolygiaeth Gofal Cymru (AGC) is the statutory regulator of social care and childcare services in Wales, established in 2002 as an arm's-length body of Welsh Government. It registers, inspects, and takes enforcement action against care homes, domiciliary support services, childcare and play providers, fostering and adoption services, and advocacy services operating across all 22 Welsh local authorities. CIW additionally conducts assurance checks and improvement inspections of local authority social services departments for both adults and children, operating under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016. Its services are delivered bilingually in Welsh and English, and it maintains joint inspection frameworks with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) and Estyn.

The core product is the CIW Online portal (built on Drupal with Azure AD B2C authentication), which providers use to register services, submit notifications and variations, complete Self Assessment of Service Statements (SASS), and manage Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) authorisations. CIW supplements this with a public Digital Services Directory, Microsoft Power BI-based Data Tools for service-level statistics, and GovDelivery-powered monthly e-newsletters. Inspection reports are published openly with ratings for care homes and domiciliary support services. The organisation is funded directly through Welsh Government budget allocations rather than commercial revenue, with no fees charged to providers or the public. Strategic counterparties include the Welsh Government (parent), HIW, Estyn, the Disclosure and Barring Service, HMRC, Social Care Wales, and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.

Name

Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) / Arolygiaeth Gofal Cymru (AGC)

Legal name

Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)

Website

https://careinspectorate.wales

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Care Inspectorate Wales is the statutory regulator of social care and childcare services in Wales, responsible for registering, inspecting, and enforcing quality standards across all 22 Welsh local authorities and the registered provider population.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Care Regulation

NAICS

Regulation, Licensing, and Inspection of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors (92615), Child Care Services (62441)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Skilled Nursing Care Facilities (8051)

akta.pro primary industry

Health, Safety & Building Code Regulators (Inspections) (BPAIAOAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulatory Compliance Audits & Inspections (EDACAKAB), Safeguarding, Student Welfare & Child Protection Compliance Audits (EDADAGAI), Health Policy & Legislation Authorities (HLAJACAA)

Keywords

• Social care regulation
• Care service inspection
• Regulatory compliance
• Safeguarding oversight
• Public sector regulation

Headquarters

HQ city

Llandudno Junction

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Regulatory Funding: CIW is a Welsh Government regulatory body. As a public sector organization, it is funded through Welsh Government budget allocations rather than commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Care Inspectorate Wales is the statutory regulator of social care and childcare services in Wales. Under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, it registers care service providers, conducts inspections and assurance checks of care services and local authority social services, publishes inspection reports and ratings, and takes enforcement action to improve quality and safeguarding.

Product overview

Care Inspectorate Wales operates a platform-centric model consisting of CIW Online as the primary portal for service provider interactions, complemented by a Digital Services Directory for public searches and Power BI-based Data Tools for analytics. Key digital services include the Notifications Portal for regulatory submissions, CIW Online Assistants for delegated access, and published Inspection Reports with ratings. The organisation also supports Welsh language promotion through the 'More than just words' framework and publishes annual reports and statistics. CIW Online is a Beta service managed on behalf of the Welsh Government.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CIW Online

Quantifiable outcome

• Inspection activity across all 22 Welsh local authorities annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint inspection partner for healthcare and social care services. Conducts joint assurance checks, reviews of community learning disability teams, and joint monitoring of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards in Wales.
• EstyncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint inspection partner for education and childcare services. Co-develops inspection frameworks including updated joint inspection framework for early years education settings (from September 2026).
• Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)minorOthersInformation sharing for regulatory purposes related to financial aspects of care service provision.
• Welsh Local Government AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative engagement with local authority umbrella organization for social services oversight.
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)coreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration for criminal record checks and barring services for care workers. CIW refers individuals to DBS as part of regulatory functions.
• OfstedminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-border regulatory coordination for children's services between England and Wales.
• Public Services Ombudsman WalesminorOthersOversight body for complaint handling related to public services including social care.
• Welsh GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent organization. CIW operates as an arm's length body of Welsh Government, manages CIW Online portal on behalf of Welsh Ministers, and implements Welsh Government policy frameworks including More than just words for Welsh language promotion.
• All 22 Welsh Local AuthoritiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCore regulatory relationship. CIW conducts assurance checks and inspections of local authority adult and children's social services, joint safeguarding reviews, and monitors compliance with statutory duties under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Direct peers

• Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA): Northern Ireland's independent regulator of health and social care services. RQIA carries out inspection, review, and enforcement of care providers in another UK devolved jurisdiction, mirroring CIW's role in Wales.
• Care Quality Commission (CQC): The independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. CQC performs the closest analogous function to CIW — registering, inspecting, and rating care providers — but for the much larger English market, making it the most directly comparable UK social care regulator.
• Care Inspectorate (Scotland): Scotland's equivalent scrutiny and improvement body for care services, including childminders, daycare, and care homes. It performs the same statutory registration, inspection, and grading function as CIW within a separate devolved jurisdiction, making it a near-identical peer.

Others

• Social Care Wales: The Welsh regulatory body for the social care workforce, responsible for registering social workers and setting workforce standards. It is a partner and ecosystem peer rather than a direct competitor, addressing the people-side of the same sector CIW regulates.
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS): The UK agency that performs criminal record and barring checks. CIW refers care workers to DBS as part of its regulatory oversight, making DBS an enabling infrastructure partner within the same regulatory chain.

Broad incumbents

• Estyn: The education and training inspectorate for Wales. Estyn is CIW's joint inspection partner for early years and childcare settings, operating an analogous inspection function in the adjacent education sector within the same jurisdiction.
• Ofsted: England's regulator of education, children's services, and skills. Ofsted inspects childcare and social care providers in England and coordinates cross-border activity with CIW, making it a broad incumbent in an overlapping service category.
• Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW): Wales's statutory inspector of healthcare services (NHS and independent healthcare). HIW is CIW's joint inspection partner and operates in the same Welsh regulatory ecosystem, covering an adjacent (rather than overlapping) service domain.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/care_wales
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/cssiw
• Facebookfacebook.com/careinspectoratewales
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/care-inspectorate-wales

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) / Arolygiaeth Gofal Cymru (AGC)