Regulation and Compliance

Regulation exists because the public cannot see inside the services it relies on, so inspectors and auditors stand in for its eyes. This module sets out five purposes of regulation, four families of oversight, and Hood and colleagues' account of government regulating itself through waste-watchers, quality police and sleaze-busters. It makes the case for treating regulation as a floor and a mirror, not a performance.

Regulation can feel arbitrary, but behind it sits a body of theory that helps you anticipate how a regulator will behave. This module covers Ayres and Braithwaite's enforcement pyramid, Sparrow's regulatory craft, Stigler's account of regulatory capture, the Hampton review and Regulators' Code, and Power's warning about the audit society, ending with four questions you can ask of any regulator or of your own organisation.

Hospitals, schools, care and housing look similar on both sides of the border, but Wales and England regulate them through different bodies, laws and philosophies. This module maps who regulates what, contrasts Wales's lean towards dialogue with England's lean towards direction, traces recent reforms including the Dash review of the Care Quality Commission, and offers the leader's regulatory year as a practical rhythm for keeping current.

Health and social care is where regulation touches the most intimate parts of people's lives. This module draws lessons from Mid Staffordshire and the Francis Inquiry, Dr Penny Dash's 2024 review of the Care Quality Commission and its rebuilding, the CQC's warning signs of closed cultures, the distinct Welsh architecture under RISCA and the 2020 Quality and Engagement Act, and the duty of candour in both nations.

Inspection is done to people, not only to institutions, and how it is led matters as much as the framework. This module looks at the death of headteacher Ruth Perry and Ofsted's response, the move to report cards in England, Estyn's dialogue-led cycle in Wales, the strengths and risks of judgement-led and dialogue-led inspection, and Leeds's journey from inadequate to outstanding through restorative practice.

Social housing regulation in England changed sharply after the Grenfell Tower fire and the death of Awaab Ishak, leading to the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. This module explains the regulator's new powers, the four consumer standards, Tenant Satisfaction Measures and the lessons of Newham's C4 grade, then contrasts the Welsh model of ministerial regulation and regulated self-assurance, ending with practical questions for a housing board.

Public money needs a public account, and this module explains the architecture that provides it. It covers the Best Value Duty under the Local Government Act 1999, intervention in failing English councils, the Welsh model of self-assessment, panel performance assessment and lay-chaired governance and audit committees, the English local audit backlog, and the Institute of Internal Auditors' Three Lines Model, closing with how a board assembles many sources of assurance.

Compliance is what you do when someone is watching; culture is what you do when nobody is. This module draws on Lynn Sharp Paine's compliance and integrity approaches, Goodhart's law and Bevan and Hood's study of target gaming, then explores assurance as an early warning system, the regulated self-assurance cycle, the features of a healthy regulator relationship and an evidence and culture matrix for testing where your organisation really stands.

This capstone reads three hard cases through the ideas built up across the programme: Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in Wales, Whorlton Hall and the Murphy review, and Thames Water and Ofwat. Using closed cultures, the enforcement pyramid, regulatory capture and the four questions for any regulator, it draws out common threads and an honest view of what regulation can and cannot do without leadership.