Department of Health and Social Care issues draft Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training
The Health and Care Act 2022 (paragraph 181) introduced mandatory training for all staff working for a CQC registered health and social care provider. The legislation required the training to be “appropriate to the person’s role”, and aimed to increase staff understanding of learning disability and autism, so that they could support people with a learning disability and autistic people safely, respectfully and confidently. It was recognised that the health disparities and premature mortality experienced by people with a learning disability and autistic people can be reduced when staff are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to care for them.
However, until very recently, there was limited statutory guidance as to:
- How the training can be identified as “appropriate”
- What the content of the training should be or
- How the training should be sourced and accredited
The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training has long been the recommended and preferred training package for those providing learning disability and autism training, recommended by government, Skills for Care, and NHS England.
In June 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care issued a draft Code of Practice of the same name, in order to support providers in understanding their staff training needs, and identifying the right level and content of training to meet those needs. The Code of Practice has been largely informed by the principles of the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training and sets out the standards and requirements that the training must meet to be compliant with the statute.
There are four key standards of the training:
- All staff receive training that covers a minimum curriculum of capabilities from the Core Capabilities Frameworks
- All staff receive training that enables them to explore how they will put their learning into practice
- All staff receive a minimum amount of live and interactive training that is co-produced and co-delivered by people with a learning disability and autistic people
- All staff receive training that is based on evidence and is quality-assured through trialling, ongoing evaluation and accreditation
It is expected that all health and care staff will undertake one of the 2 tiers of the training package, depending on their role:
- Tier 1 is for people who require a general awareness of the support autistic people or people with a learning disability may need.
- Tier 2 is for people who may need to provide care and support for autistic people and people with a learning disability.
Annex A and Annex B to the code provide illustrative examples to help providers determine which tier of training their staff may need, along with details of other training frameworks that should be considered when looking at training needs. The Oliver McGowan Training is designed to be re-taken at least every 3 years.
CQC will apply the Code of Practice during their inspection when considering:
- The service’s compliance with the Health and Care Act 2022 and Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act (2008) Regulated Activities 2014; and
- The service’s score against the key quality statements relating to the skills of staff (6, 11,19, 20 28, 33).
The Code of Practice clearly states that, where a provider is not following the code, the onus will be on the provider to explain its rationale for doing so. CQC will be obliged to consider in those circumstances whether the provider is effectively protecting those with learning disabilities and autism and may take enforcement action where there are concerns about this.
The Code of Practice remains in draft until 29th July pending final approval by parliament.
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Hempsons can assist with any queries you might have around compliance with the Code of Practice or other requirements set by the Regulations or CQC.