Open Consultations
This page lists open consultations relevant to adult social care providers in the West Midlands
List of Services
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ASC LDSSList Item 1
Following on from engagement earlier this year, the NHSBSA are continuing to invite input to help shape the future of the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme (ASC LDSS).
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Government launches call for evidence for 10 Year Workforce Plan
The government has launched a call for evidence for the 10 Year Workforce Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will build on the 10 Year Health Plan (10YHP) published in July this year and will to set out how the government will deliver a new, sustainable workforce model in line with the three shifts identified in the 10YHP: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.
We encourage you and your organisation to contribute to the call for evidence and share your insights. Your input will be essential to shaping a practical and deliverable plan for the decade ahead.
The consultation will be open for six weeks and will close on 11.59pm on 7 November 2025.
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CQC launches Better regulation, better care consultation
What’s changing?
The proposed changes fall into 2 main areas:
Developing our frameworks and guidance for assessing providers
- Re-introducing rating characteristics. These are clear descriptions of what each rating level (such as good or requires improvement) looks like in practice. They will help to provide a better understanding of what each rating means.
- Replacing quality statements with assessment questions. These questions will be similar to the previous key lines of enquiry (KLOEs) and will support the rating characteristics by guiding how we assess quality.
- Developing sector-specific frameworks. These will include detailed content and guidance tailored to a specific health or care sector, so providers can better understand our expectations for their sector, as well as consistent core content that would be included across all frameworks.
- Simplifying the content of the frameworks We’ll remove duplicate or overlapping content and make the language clearer and easier to apply in practice.
Improving how we assess and rate providers
We are also proposing changes to simplify how we make judgements and award ratings, including strengthening the role of professional judgement.
- Making judgements at the key question level We propose to make judgements directly at the key question level with reference to the rating characteristics. We will no longer award lower-level scores to drive our key question ratings.
- Potential changes to how we rate NHS trusts Specifically, we are asking for feedback on:
- Re-introducing an overall quality rating for each NHS trust
- Introducing trust-level ratings for all 5 key questions
- Whether to remove location-level ratings.
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Duty to inform workers of the right to join a unionList Item 2
The Employment Rights Bill will introduce a new duty on employers to give a written statement to their workers, informing them of their right to join a trade union at the start of their employment and at other times.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is seeking views on how this new duty can be implemented effectively while minimising the burden on employers. This includes details on:
- what form the statement should take
- what content should be included
- the manner in which the statement must be delivered
- the frequency with which the statement must be reissued after the beginning of employment
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Trade union right of accessList Item 3
The Employment Rights Bill will introduce a new framework for trade unions to access workplaces physically, and to communicate with workers in person or digitally.
This includes details on:
- how unions will request access
- how employers respond
- factors the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) will take into account when determining whether access should be granted and on what terms
- how the CAC is to come to decisions on the values of fines issued for breaches of access agreements
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Leave for bereavement including pregnancy lossList Item 4
The Employment Rights Bill introduced a new day-one right to unpaid bereavement leave for employees who experience the loss of a loved one, including pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
We are seeking views to ensure the new entitlement is shaped with the needs of employees and employers at the forefront.
This consultation seeks views on:
- eligibility criteria
- types of pregnancy loss in scope
- when and how bereavement leave can be taken
- notice and evidence requirements
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Enhanced dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers
Government is introducing legislation which will make it unlawful to dismiss pregnant women, mothers on maternity leave, and mothers who return to work for at least a 6-month period after they return – except in specific circumstances.
The consultation is seeking views on enhancing dismissal protections for pregnant women and new mothers, including:
- the specific circumstances in which the dismissal of pregnant women and new mothers should still be allowed
- when the protections should start and end
- whether other new parents should be covered by the protections
The consultation also seeks views on:
- making sure pregnant women and new mothers are aware of the policy
- how to best support businesses through the change
- how to mitigate against any unintended consequences
- other changes that could be made to tackle pregnancy and maternity discrimination
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Fair Pay Agreement
The consultation invites feedback on:
- who and what should be covered by a fair pay agreement
- how the negotiation process could work
- how disputes could be resolved
- how the fair pay agreement could be implemented and complied with
This consultation does not seek views on the outcome of any fair pay agreement. Any level of pay or new terms and conditions will be agreed through the bargaining process.
