Ealing Council rated ‘Requires Improvement’ in CQC adult social care assessment

Ealing Council has been rated “Requires Improvement” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in the watchdog’s first nationwide assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.

The Labour-run council received an overall score of 56% – nine percentage points short of the 65% needed to achieve a Good rating.

Among neighbouring councils, Hillingdon achieved the highest score at 73% and was rated Good, followed by Hounslow on 70%, which also received a Good rating. Brent scored 62%, Harrow 59% and Hammersmith & Fulham 53%, with all three also rated Requires Improvement.

The national report brings together findings from 143 council assessments published between December 2023 and June 2026. It is the first nationwide overview of how councils are delivering adult social care and aims to identify where improvements are needed.

Across England, 60% of councils were rated Good, 35% Requires Improvement, 3% Outstanding and 2% Inadequate.

The CQC said the strongest-performing councils were characterised by effective leadership, timely care assessments, strong prevention strategies and support for unpaid carers. Delays in assessments, weaknesses in safeguarding and inconsistent support for carers were among the issues more commonly found in lower-rated authorities.

Chris Badger, chief inspector of adult social care at the Care Quality Commission, said: “We found overall that local authorities are rising to meet some very real and very complex challenges, and there is much to celebrate in the commitment and skill we’ve seen from staff and leaders across the country.

“However, we found too much variation in the delivery of the key foundations of adult social care provision, highlighting a gap in national standards about what people, providers and partners can expect.”

Speaking to EALING.NEWS, Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats, said: “Lib Dems say that Ealing Council needs to make many improvements to its adult services. Why are we so often lagging behind other councils?”

Responding to the report, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for healthy equal lives, Councillor Paul Driscoll, told EALING.NEWS: “This report is a national overview of the Care Quality Commission’s assessments of adult social care services across England and highlights a range of themes affecting councils nationwide. It is not a new assessment of Ealing Council.

“Ealing Council’s CQC assessment was published more than 18 months ago. While we were disappointed by the ‘requires improvement’ rating, inspectors identified a range of strengths including our effective partnership arrangements, safeguarding of vulnerable people, our person-centred approach considering their individual and cultural needs, our support for carers and our ambition to reduce inequality. It recognised social care staff who are proud to care for the people of Ealing, they are committed, knowledgeable and that there is a positive culture of learning and innovation; something that happens every day from our brilliant adult social care teams.

“While the rating was disappointing, we are continuously driving improvements, building on our strengths and have every confidence that our plans and our approach, working with our communities, will continue to build quality adult social care services that make a real difference to the lives of our residents.”