New standard for better services

From Thursday 1 October, a new government Competence and Conduct Standard will help make sure you receive a professional and consistent service.

Published: 21/09/2026

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It’s one of several changes to the Consumer Standards, alongside updates to the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

The new standard focuses on two areas:

Competence: making sure people have the right skills, knowledge and qualifications for their role. This includes new qualification requirements for senior leaders responsible for services to residents. There will also be new requirements for some contractors providing these services.

Conduct: making sure we work professionally and treat you with respect. We’ll introduce an updated Code of Conduct setting out the standards you can expect from our colleagues and contractors.

The changes also ensure residents are involved in how services are reviewed and improved. We’ve used previous feedback from residents to update our Code of Conduct.

The new standard works with our service standards, which explain what you can expect when you contact us.

We’ll share the new Code of Conduct and the Competence and Conduct Policy soon.