Fees

Services must pay fees to be registered with us.  The maximum limit is set by Scottish Ministers.  The fees we collect contribute to our operating costs.

We charge a fee for registering a new service and an annual continuation fee.  The annual continuation fee licenses a care service to operate.

Download our fees table here. 

Annual continuation of registration fee

We will send an invoice each year for all your registered services.  The date of when we send the invoice depends on the date you first registered.  The table below helps you work out when your continuation fee will be due each following year:

 If a service cancels part way through its fee year, we do not give a refund or discount.

Combined service discount

Separately registered services that operate from the same premises, sharing staff, management, policies and so on, are often referred to as ‘combined services’.  Combined services can be cheaper for us to administer.  If they are, we give a 15% discount on the smaller of their continuation fees.

The discount isn’t automatic and we must be confident that we can make a saving on their administration.  Combined service discounts will show on the smaller service’s continuation fee invoice.  If you think you may be entitled to a combined service discount, but there is no discount shown on your smaller service’s invoice, please contact your inspector.

We don’t normally give combined service discounts to fostering and adoption services.  We don’t give discounts to services where the continuation fee is less than £500.

Variation, addition or removal of condition(s) – No fees charged

Although we have set this fee at zero, you must still complete an application to add, vary or remove a condition of registration.  You can apply online through the digital portal. If this is not possible, call our Contact Centre on 0345 600 9527 for an application form.

New certificate fees – no charge

If we grant a variation to your registration, we will issue you with a new certificate of registration.  There is no charge for sending your certificate.

Cancellations – no charge

Like variation fees, we have set the cancellation fee at zero.  You can apply to cancel online through the digital portal. If this is not possible, call our Contact Centre on 0345 600 9527.

Unless we agree a shorter timescale, you must give us 3 months’ notice of your proposed cancellation.  We will consider your cancellation completed when you have returned all the necessary documentation and we have confirmed your cancellation.  If you are voluntarily cancelling a service in the period leading up to your annual continuation fee due date, make sure you don’t delay the process unnecessarily.

If you do not cancel your service before the annual continuation fee is due then it becomes payable in full.  The annual continuation fee is not discounted for services that only operate for part of a year.

How to pay Care Inspectorate fees

Credit/Debit Card

You can pay by credit or debit card online through the following link:  https://www.gov.uk/payments/care-inspectorate/continuation-fee

Direct Debit

You can pay by direct debit, either as a single payment or by 10 equal monthly instalments (only available if the fee is more than £100). 

Direct Debits are normally collected at these times:

We do not fully control when the fees are set. We decide this in consultation with Scottish Government.  Because of this, collection dates and number of instalments may change.  If they do, we will let you know.   

If you wish to pay by Direct Debit, please download, print and complete the Direct Debit instruction adding your customer number and return it to us.

BACS

Royal Bank of Scotland, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh

Sort Code: 83-06-08
Account Number: 11580052
Account Name: Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland

Cheque/Postal Order

You may pay by either cheque or postal order, made payable to The Care Inspectorate, including the remittance advice on the foot of your invoice, at any Care Inspectorate office or by posting to:

Care Inspectorate, Finance – Income Section, Compass House,
11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY.

Contact us

Please contact us if you have an enquiry about your invoice. Call us on 0345 603 6979 Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm, or write to us at: Care Inspectorate, Finance – Income Section, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fee Information

This can be found within the fee section of our website

Inactive services

Please note that although your service may be inactive, you will still be due to pay annual continuation fees.

Register care

Message from the registration team - 2 February 2024

The Care Inspectorate aims to provide the highest quality and efficient service to providers or new applicants of care services through the registration and variation functions. We do this to enable care and support being available to people and communities. Currently the registration teams are experiencing an increased volume of registration and variation applications from across the care sector but particularly in adult care services. We are systematically working through the applications and undertaking routine checks where we can and allocating these to inspectors as soon as inspector capacity is available.

We appreciate that once you have submitted an application you will be keen to have your application progressed. Please be assured we will progress your application to an inspector as soon as we are able to do so. When you have submitted an application and we have not been able to allocate to an inspector we will contact you fortnightly to update you on the situation. Please be assured we will process your application as soon as we can.

Thank you for your understanding and patience with this during this challenging period.

If you want to operate a care service in Scotland you must, by law, register with the Care Inspectorate. 

What to expect from the registration process

You can apply to register a care service online, using our secure system.  The online application is simple to complete and only asks you questions that are relevant to your service type.

You can manage your application easily.  You can save it as you go and return to it later so you can complete and submit at your own pace.  You can go back to previous stages to check, change and add to your application.  The application allows you to upload supporting documents and pay your application fee.

We aim to assess applications for a childminding service within three months and all other services within six months.  However, this presumes that you supply us with a competent and fully detailed application, as well as any additional information we request.  It is in your interest to give us all the information we ask for in the application form to prevent any delays or the risk of us closing or refusing your application.

Once you have submitted your application, our national registration team will check:

• the information you have given us
• whether the provider is fit to provide the service
• whether the manager is fit to manage the service
• that the proposed premises are fit to be used for that purpose
• that the service will make all the proper provisions for the health, welfare, independence, choice, privacy and dignity of everyone using the service.

We may also check the financial viability of the service.  Any information we ask for during the registration process is in accordance with the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

Before applying to register a service

Before you apply to register a care service you must make sure you have read and understood the associated guidance and legislation.  

Every registered care service must continuously meet the requirements of:

• the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010
• the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Registration) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/28)
• the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Applications) Order 2011 (SSI 2011/29)
• the Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/210)
• the Health and Social Care Standards
• the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019
• any other legislation relevant to your service.

Before you apply, you should also read:

• quality frameworks
• self-evaluation for improvement – your guide

For more information read our guidance below:

• Guidance for applicants on applying to register a care service
• Online registration application form - user guide

For more information about registering a service (other than childminding) click here. 

For more information about registering a childminding service click here.

If you are unclear about the kind of service you want to apply for, click here to see the definitions of care services which must be registered with us.

For general advice about registering a care service you can contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more specific queries, you can request pre-application advice.  Click here for guidance on how to do this.

Registered manager requirements

In response to feedback from services, the Care Inspectorate and the SSSC have amended the policy and guidance on the qualification requirements for managers of registered services.  New managers applying to become the Registered Manager with the Care Inspectorate are required to already hold a level 7 practitioner qualification.  This replaces the guidance issued in April this year that new managers must hold a level 9 manager qualification. 

Please note, the SSSC registration requirements remain unchanged.

Access the latest guidance here.

Fees

Care services must pay fees to be registered with us.  The maximum limit is set by Scottish Ministers.  The fees we collect contribute to our operating costs.  We charge a fee for registering a new service and an annual continuation fee.  The annual continuation fee licenses a care service to operate.

All application fees are non-returnable.

To find out more about our fees click here.

Apply to register a service 

Create an account to begin your application

Sign in to see an existing application

If you require the application form in an alternative format, please call our contact centre on 0345 600 9527.