Competition and Market Authority
Primary Authority Partnership
As part of the Care Provider Alliance (CPA), we are working with Care England, NCA and RNHA on a pilot project regarding the CMA Consumer guidance for Care Homes, to enter into a coordinated primary authority partnership on behalf of its members to support consistency in the enforcement of this consumer legislation and provide authoritative advice to members.
The full CMA guidance is available here.
The legislation is being enforced locally by Trading Standards (although some may hear directly from the CMA, CQC, commissioners, residents and families) hence there is a need for all regulators to consistently interpret the CMA Guidance for Care Homes. In order to do this we have entered into a Primary Authority (PA) partnership with Hampshire CC Trading Standards, to be a single point of contact for other regulators.
What does this mean for you?
A set of materials have been developed to support you in meeting the CMA guidance via your marketing materials, website and contracts to ensure you are compliant with the legislation. Provided that you follow these materials then you can refer the local TS or other regulator who may take a different view and believe that you are non-compliant to Hampshire TS stating that you have followed the guidance provided and are a member of the Primary Authority partnership.
Download a letter here setting out more detail about the Primary Authority Partnership – please make sure you read this carefully and in full as it explains what the Primary Authority arrangements are, how you can use them and what to do if you want to opt out – the relevant email address Primary Authority queries is: info@carehomescma.org.uk.
Please note that the Primary Authority Partnership is a membership benefit which we would recommend; however you are not obliged to participate in the scheme and therefore you have the right to opt out. If at any time you want to withdraw from the partnership you must inform info@carehomescma.org.uk
If you leave Care England/National Care Association/National Care Forum/Registered Nursing Home Association membership during the year of this pilot your company will be withdrawn from the partnership.
Model Contract Clauses:
Part of this set of supporting materials are a set of model contract clauses and explanatory notes covering the following contract areas:
Each document sets out clearly a range of model clauses for each of these specific contract areas, covering different circumstances, depending on how the provider approaches that particular arrangement.
You will see there are clear instructions as to how the model clauses can be used, as the wording of the model clauses has been very carefully crafted. It is important to note that wording should only be adapted if it is shown in square brackets and highlighted in yellow – the remaining wording provided has been carefully designed, with legal advice and has been approved by our primary authority and should not be changed.
Obviously, there will be many other clauses in your contracts that you will also need to consider carefully in light of the CMA guidance – these documents only cover the four contract areas of deposits, fees after death, annual fee increases and fee review on change of circumstances.
More details can be found on the Care Provider Alliance website
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