Provider information return (PIR): information for adult social care services

Scope of the PIR form:

All questions on the PIR form relate to:

• the service you provide for people receiving regulated activities, such as personal care
• staff and other people delivering regulated activities.

Do not include any information about people and staff who do not receive or deliver regulated activities. Regulated activities are those listed in Regulation 17(3) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated activities) Regulations 2014 for which you are registered. Find out more about regulated activities.

​Accessing and viewing the form:

• To complete the PIR, click on the hyperlink emailed to you. Ensure internet connectivity throughout the process.
• It's recommended to use Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge for optimal performance.
• Avoid opening the form on multiple computers simultaneously to prevent data loss.
• You can save the form and return to it later. We'll email you a unique link for you to use when returning to your form.

Answering the questions:

• Questions must be answered in the correct order to avoid missing mandatory responses.
• Ensure your answers are concise and clear, providing anonymized examples of evidence to support each free text response.
• Use 'N/A' for text fields or '0' for numeric fields where 'not applicable'.
• Some of your answers are limited to 500 words, if we need more information your inspector will contact you
• Mandatory questions are marked with a *. Failure to complete them will prevent form submission.
• Telephone numbers should be entered without spaces or special characters.
• Email addresses must be in the correct format.
• Free text answers should not contain hyphens or other special characters.
• Data section questions require simple responses such as numbers, dates, or yes/no answers.
• Only use the survey’s ‘back’ button instead of your browser's to avoid losing answers.
• Use the scroll bar to verify any additional mandatory questions on the right side of the screen.
• Do not include attachments with the PIR; further information will be requested if necessary.
• Exiting the form saves changes automatically, allowing you to resume later.

​​Submission and confirmation:

• If sharing the form with colleagues, ensure only one return is submitted to avoid duplication.
• Upon clicking ‘Submit,’ a confirmation message will appear, and you'll receive an email with a unique reference number.
• Check your spam or junk mail folder if you didn't receive the confirmation email.

After submission:

• Expect an email summarising your PIR responses; if absent, contact ASCinspections@cqc.org.uk.
• Complete and submit the PIR before your deadline date to avoid losing any entered information.
• Once you have completed and returned your PIR, we may contact you to ask additional questions to clarify your answers or to provide further detail.

​​If you have read all of the PIR questions guidance and still have further queries about filling in or submitting the PIR, contact ASCinspections@cqc.org.uk.