CQC fixed penalty notices and simple cautions

We know how this feels

A fixed penalty notice can look like a parking ticket. A set amount, a deadline, a way to pay. It isn't one. It's CQC saying it's satisfied an offence was committed in your service, and offering you a way to settle it without going to court.

You might want to pay today and make it go away. You might be angry, because it's about a missed notification or a late report in a service that gets hundreds of things right every day. Both reactions are normal. Hold off on either until you've checked the notice.

This is serious, but it isn't a Notice of Decision or an urgent suspension, and on its own it doesn't change what you're registered to do. You have real choices here, and a short window to make them well.

What is a CQC fixed penalty notice?

A CQC fixed penalty notice means CQC is satisfied that your service, or you as registered manager, committed a specific criminal offence under health and social care law. It offers you a way to settle that offence by paying a set amount within 28 days, so the case never reaches court.

The law calls it a penalty notice (section 86 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008). CQC calls it a fixed penalty notice. If you pay, you cannot be convicted of the offence in the notice. You do not have to pay, but if you refuse, CQC says it will normally prosecute.

This page is general information, not legal advice.

How serious is a fixed penalty notice?

It's still about a criminal offence, even though the amount is fixed and no court is involved if you pay. CQC uses a penalty notice when it has enough evidence to prosecute, when it thinks you can make the improvements without lengthy court proceedings, and when the offence had an insubstantial impact on the people using your service.

CQC also uses fixed penalties as a signal. Its policy says it can issue them to several providers in a sector to make clear an issue won't be tolerated, and to signal that it may prosecute if there is no improvement. Treat yours as a warning you can still act on.

In our experience, CQC reads even a paperwork offence through risk. A missed notification tells it a process isn't working. It will want to see that process fixed, and to see it stay fixed.

The amounts are set in Schedule 5 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The law caps each amount at half the maximum fine on summary conviction, or £50,000 where that fine is unlimited. CQC's own penalties page leaves some of them out, so check your notice against the list below.

What does paying a fixed penalty mean?

Paying settles your criminal liability for the one offence in the notice. Once you've paid in line with the notice, you cannot be convicted of that offence. It isn't a conviction.

It doesn't keep things quiet. CQC must publish details of a paid penalty within three months of payment: the offence, the regulated activity, the provider's name, the manager's name where relevant, and the address. For the information and inspection offences under sections 63, 64 and 65, publication is optional.

It doesn't fix the problem behind it either. CQC can still use its other powers if that problem carries on, and a second failure of the same kind won't look like an accident.

The harm test for safe care, safeguarding and nutrition

A breach of Regulation 12, 13(1) to (4) or 14 is only a criminal offence if it caused avoidable physical or psychological harm to someone using your service, exposed them to a significant risk of that harm or, in cases of theft, misuse or misappropriation, led to a loss of their money or property. If your notice is about one of these regulations, read how CQC says the harm test is met and check it against your own records.

The law also gives a defence if you took all reasonable steps and used all due diligence to prevent the breach. That defence matters if you decide not to pay and the case goes to court.

Can you challenge a CQC fixed penalty notice?

CQC doesn't describe a tribunal appeal against a penalty notice. If the notice should not have been given, or contains a material error, CQC can withdraw it and must repay anything you paid. Raise that with CQC in writing, well before the deadline.

Otherwise, the way to contest it is to decline to pay and defend any prosecution in the magistrates' court. That's a real option when the facts are wrong. It's a big step, though, because a court can fine you more than the penalty.

Offered a simple caution instead?

A simple caution is a formal record of an offence that you admit. CQC offers one instead of prosecuting where there is enough evidence, the offence had an insubstantial impact, a prosecution is not needed to get the improvement, you have shown you can improve within a reasonable time, and the Code for Crown Prosecutors supports it.

Accepting means admitting the offence, on the record. You don't have to accept. If you refuse, CQC will consider prosecution, and you would defend the case in court. CQC says it has a general power to publish criminal enforcement outcomes like this and will normally do so.

The admission matters for your registration. The grounds on which CQC can cancel a registration, in section 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, include a conviction for, or an admission of, a relevant offence. Talk to us before you sign anything.

What happens if you ignore it

There is no obligation to pay. If you do not pay by the deadline, CQC says it will consider using its other enforcement powers, and that failing to pay will normally lead to a prosecution. Any defence is then made in the magistrates' court.

A court can fine more than the penalty notice. For the harm offences under Regulations 12, 13(1) to (4) and 14, consent under Regulation 11, breach of a condition and carrying on while suspended, the fine is unlimited. Duty of candour notification failures, complaints and governance report failures, statutory notification offences and the information offences each carry a maximum fine of £2,500. Failing to display your rating carries a maximum of £500. Carrying on without registration can lead to imprisonment as well as a fine.

CQC must publish a conviction. CQC can bring proceedings within 12 months of having enough evidence, and up to three years after the offence (section 90).

Why providers call HLTH

We'll tell you straight whether the notice stands up, what paying or not paying means for you, and what CQC will want to see fixed.

A penalty notice usually means a process has failed. Our job is to find out why, put it right, evidence the change and make sure it holds, so the same failure doesn't come back as something more serious. We deal with CQC enforcement day in, day out, with decades of collective experience across different types of enforcement action.

Where the decision needs legal advice, we work alongside your own solicitor or our trusted legal partners.