ComplyChat guides
The duties your board actually carries.
Plain summaries of the obligations UK boards, trustees and safeguarding leads are held to, written from the official guidance and linked to it. No sign-up, no gated PDF. Each one ends with the same question, because it is the one we built ComplyChat to answer: if someone asked you to produce the record, could you?
Governance and the board
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity trustee responsibilities: the six main duties
What the Charity Commission expects of a trustee, taken from CC3: the six duties, who is eligible, chair and treasurer roles, and when trustees can be personally liable.
- Guide · Governance
Conflict of interest policy: what it must include
The types of conflict a policy must cover, the seven questions it has to answer, how a conflict is managed in a meeting, and what happens when one is not disclosed.
- Guide · Governance
Social media policy for a charity: what it must cover
The Charity Commission's 2023 checklist turned into a working policy: who posts and approves, personal accounts, emotive issues, campaigning, harmful content, complaints, and the private groups most policies forget.
- Guide · Governance
Minute taking: what to record and what to leave out
What belongs in meeting minutes and what does not, who should take them, a reusable structure, and why the minute book no longer sees every decision.
- Guide · Governance
Board minutes retention: how long to keep minutes, who is entitled to see them, and what the record has to prove
Board minutes retention for charities, schools and care providers in England: the ten-year rule for companies under the Companies Act 2006, the six-year rule for CIOs, what a maintained school governing body and an academy trust must make available for inspection, what the minutes are evidence of, the form the record may take, and the decisions made between meetings that never reach it.
- Guide · School governance
Chair of governors: responsibilities and powers
What a chair leads and what they do not, the powers the role actually carries, what chair's action means and when it may be used, and whether a chair can suspend a headteacher.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Registered manager responsibilities: what Regulation 7 requires, what you are accountable for, and the records that prove it
The registered manager's role under the Health and Social Care Act 2008: who must have one, the four limbs of Regulation 7 (character, qualifications and competence, health, the Schedule 3 information), the offences a registered person can be prosecuted for, absence and leaving, and the evidence an inspector reads to see whether the service is well led.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustees' annual report: what it must contain, and the records you need before you write it
Who must prepare one, the simple report and the full SORP report line by line, the public benefit statement the law requires, the thresholds changing for year ends from 30 September 2026, and the accounting and governance records behind every sentence.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity Governance Code 2025: eight principles and what changed
The Charity Governance Code 2025 explained for trustees: the eight principles, apply or explain, what is new since 2017, the evidence it suggests, and how to use it.
- Guide · Charity governance
Governance framework for a charity: documents and how they fit
A charity's governance framework in England and Wales: the law, the governing document and how to change it, delegation and terms of reference, policies, and review.
- Guide · Charity governance
What policies does a charity need? The legal minimum and the rest
Which charity policies are required by law, which the Charity Commission expects, which depend on staff, volunteers or fundraising, and how to keep them real.
- Guide · Charity governance
Code of conduct for trustees: contents, adoption and breaches
A trustee code of conduct for a charity or academy trust: whether it is required, what the 2025 Charity Governance Code expects, what to include, and breaches.
- Guide · Charity governance
Register of interests for a charity: entries, updates and minutes
How a charity keeps a register of trustees' interests: what to record, the declaration form, annual updates, declarations at meetings and the minute that proves it.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee email retention: what to keep, for how long, and leavers
Trustee email in charities, schools and academy trusts: whose record it is, why personal addresses fail, SARs and FOI, how long to keep what, and leavers.
- Guide · School governance
Governor code of conduct: what to include, and handling a breach
What a governor code of conduct should say in a maintained school or an academy local committee: the DfE expectation, the Nolan principles, suspension and removal.
- Guide · School governance
Local governing body: the LGB's role in a multi-academy trust
What a local governing body is in a multi-academy trust, what the scheme of delegation lets it decide, who sits on it, and what its minutes must record.
- Guide · School governance
Governor training: what the DfE expects, and the record to keep
What the DfE governance guides and KCSIE 2026 expect on governor induction and training, which training is specific to a role, and what boards should record.
- Guide · School governance
Academies Financial Handbook, now the Academy Trust Handbook 2026
The Academies Financial Handbook is now the Academy Trust Handbook. What the 2026 edition requires from 1 October, what changed, and the records behind it.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Regulation 17 good governance: systems, audit and board oversight
Regulation 17 for care providers: the six limbs of good governance, audit that drives improvement, feedback, board oversight, and how CQC assesses it.
- Guide · Charities
Charity communication policy: who speaks, sign-off and records
What a charity communication policy should cover: spokespeople, sign-off, campaigning under CC9, the charitable soft opt-in, internal channels and incidents.
- Guide · Governance
Grievance procedure: the Acas Code steps and what to record
A grievance procedure under the Acas Code: what a grievance is, the steps, the meeting, accompaniment, the outcome and appeal, what to record, and tribunal time limits.
- Guide · School governance
Statutory policies for schools: the 2026 list, law by law
The statutory policies and documents a maintained school or academy trust in England needs, the law behind each, who approves it, the review cycle and what goes on the website.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee recruitment: finding, checking and appointing trustees
How to recruit charity trustees: skills audit, open recruitment, the role description, eligibility checks and declarations, DBS, appointment and induction.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee decisions between meetings
How trustees can decide between meetings: written resolutions, chair’s action, delegation, voting rules and the evidence to retain.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustees WhatsApp group: what it can and cannot be used for
What a trustees or governors WhatsApp group can be used for, when a decision in it is valid, and what it means for conflicts, personal data, SARs and leavers.
- Guide · Governance
Risk register: what it records and what the regulators expect
What a risk register is, what it should include, how likelihood and impact scoring works, and what CC26, the Academy Trust Handbook and CQC expect of boards.
- Guide · Schools
Ofsted toolkit: the school inspection toolkit and framework, 2026
The Ofsted school inspection toolkit for September 2026: the evaluation areas, the five-point scale, report cards, and the evidence leaders and governors show.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee induction checklist: what to give, explain and record
A trustee induction checklist built from Charity Commission guidance (CC30) and the Charity Governance Code, with trustee training and the records to keep.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee resignation and removal: steps, notices and records
How a charity trustee resigns or is removed in England and Wales: the governing document, the quorum, the minute, the register update and Companies House.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee skills audit: the matrix, the gaps and the action log
How to run a trustee skills audit from Charity Commission guidance and the Charity Governance Code: the skills matrix, scoring, gap analysis and actions.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity board effectiveness review: how to run one and record it
How a charity board reviews its effectiveness under the Charity Governance Code: self-assessment, external review, chair and trustee reviews, and records.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity trustee liability: when trustees pay, and what protects them
When charity trustees are personally liable – to the charity, to third parties and in criminal law – and the relief, indemnity and insurance that protect them.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity fraud policy: what to include, report and record
What a charity anti-fraud policy should contain, when fraud is a serious incident for the Charity Commission, Report Fraud, and the fraud register.
- Guide · Charities
PTA constitution: clauses, officers and the records to keep
What a school PTA constitution must cover, the Charity Commission model documents, the £5,000 registration threshold, officers, AGMs and the records to keep.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity reserves policy: a template and how CC19 sets the target
A charity reserves policy template built on the Charity Commission’s CC19: what counts as reserves, setting and justifying a target, monitoring and reporting.
- Guide · Charities
Volunteer code of conduct: what to include and how to record it
What a charity’s code of conduct for volunteers and staff should cover, how it differs for each, recording that people have read it, and handling a breach.
- Guide · Charities
Volunteer expenses policy: what to pay, mileage rates and records
What a charity can reimburse volunteers, the HMRC approved mileage rates for 2026–27, why flat-rate payments risk employment status, and the claims record.
- Guide · School governance
Academy trust members: powers, limits and the records a trust keeps
What academy trust members do under the Academy trust handbook 2026, how they differ from trustees and local governors, and the records a trust keeps of them.
- Guide · School governance
Academy trust governance documents: what to hold and publish
The governance documents an academy trust must hold and publish – articles, funding agreements, schemes of delegation, registers – and keeping them current.
- Guide · School governance
School complaints policy: the DfE stages, the panel and the record
What a school complaints procedure must contain in England: section 29 and Part 7, the DfE's recommended stages, the panel hearing and the complaint record.
- Guide · Safer recruitment
Section 128 check: who needs one, how to run it and what to record
The section 128 check under KCSIE 2026: who needs one in academies, independent and maintained schools, how to run it, and what goes on the record.
- Guide · School governance
Governor induction: the first term, the pack and the induction record
How to induct a new school governor or academy trustee in England: what the DfE expects, a first-term programme, the induction pack and the record to keep.
- Guide · School governance
Governor visits record: planning the visit and writing the report
How school governors plan a monitoring visit, what the governor visit report should record, and who can see it, under the DfE governance guides.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity internal financial controls checklist: CC8, item by item
A charity internal financial controls checklist built on the Charity Commission’s CC8: the legal items marked, bank mandates, signatories and the annual review.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity audit threshold: the 2026 figures and the year they apply
The charity audit and independent examination thresholds in England and Wales from 30 September 2026, which year they apply to, and Scotland and NI.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee payment: when a charity can pay a trustee, and how
When a charity can pay a trustee under the Charity Commission’s CC11 series and section 185: goods or services, lost earnings, honorariums and the records.
- Guide · Charity governance
Board papers for a charity: what goes in the pack, and when
What charity board papers should contain under the Charity Commission's CC48, CC27 and CC8: the agenda, finance, reports, resolutions, timing and records.
- Guide · Charity governance
Charity AGM minutes: the rules, notice and what to record
Charity AGM minutes and the rules behind them: when a charity must hold an AGM, notice periods by legal form, quorum, votes, and signing and keeping minutes.
- Guide · Charity governance
Chair of trustees responsibilities: the role, powers and limits
Chair of trustees responsibilities under CC3 and the Charity Governance Code: what the chair does, the casting vote, acting alone, the CEO and appraisal.
- Guide · Charity governance
Trustee term limits: the governing document, the Code and the record
Trustee term limits for charities: no law caps a trustee's term, what model constitutions say, the Code's nine-year review and the records that prove a term.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Residents' meeting minutes in a care home: record it and act on it
How to run and minute care home residents' meetings under CQC Regulation 17: an agenda, a minutes template, you said we did, relatives and what to leave out.
Work conversations on personal phones
- Guide · Schools
Staff WhatsApp groups in schools: the rules and what a policy should say
Whether a school can require staff to join, when messages become a safeguarding or data protection problem, whether they can be used in disciplinary proceedings, and what no policy can fix.
- Guide · Schools
WhatsApp in schools: parents, staff and the rules that apply
Parent class groups and the school's position, whether to use it with parents at all, what the 24-hour rule actually means, and age limits.
- Guide · Data protection
Is WhatsApp GDPR compliant for work?
The three different things called WhatsApp, the five duties that are hard to meet whichever you mean, whether an employer can require its use, and what metadata Meta receives.
- Guide · Data protection
Subject access requests and WhatsApp messages
What an employer must disclose, what may be withheld or redacted, how tribunals treat them, and what to do when the messages cannot be produced at all.
- Guide · Work messaging
Work messages on personal phones: what the organisation is responsible for, what it can and cannot see, and what the policy has to say
Work messages on staff’s own phones in a school, charity or care service: why the organisation is the controller of what its staff hold there, what the ICO says about personal devices and subject access requests, the limits on looking at a worker’s own phone, what the Cabinet Office’s rules for WhatsApp and private email say a workplace policy should copy, and the record that never reaches the organisation.
- Guide · Work messaging
WhatsApp messages as evidence: tribunals, inspections and regulators, and the organisation that cannot produce them
WhatsApp and text messages as evidence for an organisation in the UK: how a message becomes a document in an employment tribunal, an inspection or a regulator’s inquiry, what the Civil Evidence Act says about copies and business records, the duty to disclose messages that harm your case, screenshots against exports and what authenticity turns on, subject access requests, and the position of the organisation that cannot produce the messages at all.
- Guide · Work messaging
Personal mobile phone policy for staff: what it must cover in a school, a charity or a care service
A personal mobile phone policy for staff in a school, charity or care service: the rules that make one necessary (KCSIE’s staff behaviour policy, the ICO’s guidance on personal devices and on checking workers’ communications, CQC’s records duty), the difference between a pupils’ phone policy and a staff one, the eight things the policy has to cover, what it cannot lawfully do, and the record the policy has to create.
- Guide · Work messaging
Staff messaging policy: what it must say about channels, records, hours and personal phones
A staff messaging policy for a school, charity or care service: the channels that are permitted for which work and the ones that are not, the record every message about a person or a decision has to reach, the Cabinet Office’s rules for WhatsApp, private email and SMS as the published model, hours and expectations, what the organisation may and may not look at under the ICO’s guidance, and the paragraph most policies leave out.
- Guide · Data protection
WhatsApp retention policy: what you can keep and what to write
A retention policy for work messages on WhatsApp: what the app keeps, disappearing messages, backups, leavers' phones, holds, and the rows a UK retention schedule needs.
- Guide · Work messaging
WhatsApp messages in a disciplinary hearing: using them fairly
Using WhatsApp messages in an internal disciplinary under the Acas Code: how they reach the employer, Article 8 and privacy, authenticity, and the employee's own copies.
- Guide · Adult social care
Care home staff WhatsApp groups: confidentiality and the record
The rules a care home staff WhatsApp group meets: confidentiality, residents' health data on personal phones, Regulation 17 records, and what a staff policy should say.
- Guide · Charities
Volunteer WhatsApp groups: how to run one and when to move on
How a charity should run a volunteer WhatsApp group: consent, admins, group rules, young volunteers, what never goes in it, and the signs it has outgrown the job.
- Guide · Work messaging
Teams chat retention policy: what Microsoft 365 keeps and deletes
How Microsoft Purview retention policies work for Teams chats and channel messages, what they include and exclude, how deletion really runs, and who is outside them.
- Guide · Schools
Parent communication policy for schools: channels and reply times
What a school parent communication policy should say: channels, response times, who to contact, out-of-hours expectations and staff personal numbers.
- Guide · Governance
Acceptable use policy for staff: schools, charities and care
A staff acceptable use policy for IT, devices and messaging in schools, charities and care: what KCSIE 2026 requires, what to cover, personal devices, and enforcement.
- Guide · Work messaging
WhatsApp group admin responsibilities when the group is for work
What a WhatsApp group admin can and cannot do, and what the admin of a staff, volunteer or parent group answers for: data protection, safeguarding, records.
- Guide · Work messaging
Right to disconnect policy: the UK legal position and what to write
The UK has no statutory right to disconnect. What the law does require for messages after work hours, and how to write a voluntary out-of-hours policy.
- Guide · Data protection
WhatsApp Advanced Chat Privacy: what it blocks in a work group
What WhatsApp’s Advanced Chat Privacy and its replacement, Restricted chat, block and allow, and what that means for a work group’s requests and evidence.
- Guide · Data protection
Bring your own device policy: security and UK GDPR for work data
A BYOD policy for staff using their own phones, tablets and laptops for work data: the ICO’s view, NCSC controls, Cyber Essentials scope, privacy and leavers.
Safeguarding and raising concerns
- Guide · Adult safeguarding
Safeguarding in care homes: the six principles and the five Rs
What safeguarding means under the Care Act 2014, the six principles, the five Rs, examples of safeguarding issues, and when a concern must reach CQC and the local authority.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Incident reporting in care homes: what to record, who to tell, and the record that shows you decided correctly
Accident and incident reporting for care homes and other adult social care services in England: the internal record Regulation 17 requires, which incidents must be notified to CQC, which are reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR, when the local authority safeguarding team and the duty of candour are engaged, and the one incident record that shows every decision.
- Guide · Schools
Keeping children safe in education: the records it asks for
KCSIE 2026 in outline - the five parts, what changed from 2025, and the records the statutory guidance expects schools and colleges to keep.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Safeguarding training records: what schools, charities and care providers must keep, and what an inspector asks to see
Safeguarding training records for schools, charities and adult social care in England: who has to be trained and how often under KCSIE 2026, the Charity Commission’s guidance and CQC Regulation 18, what a training record has to show, what Ofsted and CQC actually ask for, how long to keep it, and the update that is delivered as a message and never reaches the file.
- Guide · Schools
Ofsted safeguarding evidence: what inspectors ask for, when, and where the record has to be
Ofsted safeguarding evidence under the framework in force from September 2026: the ‘met’ and ‘not met’ standard, the notification call, the documents a school must have ready by 8am on day one, what the lead inspector does with the single central record and the designated safeguarding lead’s casework, what “evidence” means beyond the documents, and the record that shows a decision was taken.
- Guide · Governance
Whistleblowing policy: what it must include
Which disclosures the Public Interest Disclosure Act protects, who is covered, what detriment means, and the confidentiality you cannot honestly promise.
- Guide · Charities
Complaints procedure for a charity: what it must contain, what to record, and when a complaint is a serious incident
A charity complaints procedure in England and Wales: which rules actually require one (the Code of Fundraising Practice, CQC Regulation 16 for a charity that provides care, the independent school standards for a charity that runs a school), what the procedure has to contain, the written record of every complaint and the action taken, the timescales and escalation routes to the Fundraising Regulator and the Charity Commission, when a complaint must be reported as a serious incident, and the complaint that arrives as a message.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Making a MASH referral: what to record before, during and after
A concern followed from the first note to the outcome: thresholds, consent and the new information sharing duty, the one-working-day and 45-day timescales, and the record at each stage.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Channel panel: what happens after a Prevent referral
Notice, Check, Share, the police gateway assessment, the monthly local authority panel, consent, closure and the six- and twelve-month reviews, and the record the referrer should hold at each stage.
- Guide · Schools
Information sharing agreements for schools: what to put in one, and what to record
The section 16LA duty in force from 30 September 2026, the DfE’s two template agreements and the ICO’s checklist, the routes information takes, and the record a school keeps of every decision to share or not share.
- Guide · Schools
DSL handover: live cases, records and cover under KCSIE 2026
How to hand over the designated safeguarding lead role under KCSIE 2026: who can take it, what must transfer, live cases, records and cover for absence.
- Guide · Schools
Child protection file transfer: what KCSIE 2026 requires
How to transfer a child protection file under KCSIE 2026: the five-day timescale, secure transit, the summary, confirming receipt and what the old school keeps.
- Guide · Schools
Allegations against staff: the record KCSIE 2026 requires
What a school must record when an allegation is made against a member of staff under KCSIE Part four: the LADO route, decisions, outcomes, retention and references.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Safeguarding concern form: what to record and where it goes next
What a safeguarding concern form should record for a child or an adult at risk, how to write it, what the council's adult form asks, and where it goes next.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Information sharing between agencies: the duty, tests and record
How safeguarding information is shared between agencies under the section 16LA duty from 30 September 2026 and Working Together 2026, and what to record.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Prevent duty training records: who to train and what to keep
The Prevent duty for schools, colleges and childcare in England and Wales: who needs Prevent training, how often, and the training and compliance records to keep.
- Guide · Schools
Online safety policy for a school: what KCSIE 2026 requires
What a school's online safety policy must cover under KCSIE 2026: the 4Cs, roles, filtering and monitoring, mobile phones, training, incidents and the annual review.
- Guide · Schools
Social media policy for schools: accounts, staff, pupils, parents
What a school social media policy must cover under KCSIE 2026: the school's accounts, staff personal use, pupils' online safety and parents posting about the school.
- Guide · Safer recruitment
Safer recruitment records: what to keep, and what the policy must say
What KCSIE 2026 expects schools to record at each stage of safer recruitment, what the policy should cover, where each record lives and how long to keep it.
- Guide · Safer recruitment
Overseas checks under KCSIE 2026: staff with time outside the UK
What KCSIE 2026 requires for staff who have lived or worked outside the UK: further checks, letters of professional standing and the SCR entry.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Church safeguarding records: what to record, pass on and keep
What a church must record when a safeguarding concern arises, who it goes to in each denomination, where the file lives and how long it is kept.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Sports club safeguarding policy: what it must say, who signs it
What a sports club safeguarding policy must contain under the NSPCC Sport standards and Working Together 2026, the procedures behind it and the welfare officer's role.
- Guide · Charities
Lone working policy: what the law requires and what it should say
A lone working policy for charities and care services: the HSE duty, the risk assessment, restrictions, check-ins and escalation, and the record that shows they work.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Duty of candour in the NHS and care: Regulation 20, step by step
The statutory duty of candour for NHS bodies and every CQC-registered care provider: what counts as a notifiable safety incident, the steps, the apology and the record.
- Guide · Care and CQC
CQC notification of death for care homes and home care services
When a death must be notified to CQC, which form to use, how quickly, what the form asks, deaths under a DoLS authorisation, and the record behind the notification.
- Guide · Care and CQC
DoLS record keeping: authorisations, reviews and the 2026 ruling
The records a care home or hospital must keep under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards: requests, authorisations, conditions, reviews and CQC notifications.
- Guide · Adult social care
Mental capacity assessment records: what the MCA 2005 expects
What a mental capacity assessment record must show under the Mental Capacity Act 2005: the decision, support given, the two-stage test and the best interests decision.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Section 42 enquiry: what it is and what a care provider must record
What a Care Act section 42 enquiry is, when the duty arises, when a care provider is asked to carry it out, and the records the provider must keep and produce.
- Guide · Schools
Staff–pupil communication policy
What a school’s staff–pupil communication policy should cover: approved channels, professional boundaries, reporting breaches and keeping the record.
- Guide · Schools
Low-level concerns: the policy and the record
The KCSIE 2026 definition of a low-level concern, who decides, what to record, retention, pattern reviews and the rules for references.
- Guide · Schools
Staff behaviour policy for a school
What a school staff code of conduct should cover under KCSIE 2026, with reporting routes, induction, review and the records behind the policy.
- Guide · Adult social care
Care home safeguarding policy
How Regulation 13 and the Care Act shape a care home safeguarding policy: responsibilities, referral routes, recording and oversight.
- Guide · Charity governance
Safeguarding policy for a small charity
What the Charity Commission expects of a small charity’s safeguarding policy, with reporting routes, trustee oversight and practical records.
- Guide · Charities and community groups
Youth club safeguarding records
Safeguarding records for youth and sports clubs: concerns, referrals, recruitment, access and retention, with official and specialist guidance.
- Guide · Schools
Section 175 audit
What a section 175 safeguarding audit covers, how local arrangements vary, who contributes, and how schools can evidence and act on their findings.
- Guide · Safeguarding records
Safeguarding chronology
What belongs in a safeguarding chronology, how to record significant events, who maintains it and how it supports assessment and file transfer.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Supervision records in care: what to keep, how often, who sees it
What a supervision record in adult social care should contain, how often CQC expects supervision, how long to keep the notes and what care workers can see.
- Guide · Safeguarding records
Contemporaneous notes: what they are and how to write one
What a contemporaneous note is, why courts, tribunals and regulators give it weight, and how to write one: date, time, exact words, facts, no later edits.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Types of abuse in safeguarding: the statutory definitions
The types of abuse as England's statutory guidance defines them for children and adults, the difference between signs and proof, what to record and who to tell.
- Guide · Charity governance
Safeguarding trustee: the lead trustee's role and the board's record
What a lead safeguarding trustee does, how the role differs from the safeguarding lead, what the Charity Commission expects of the board and what to minute.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Safeguarding link governor: the role, the visits and the board report
What a safeguarding link governor does under KCSIE 2026 and the DfE governance guides, how they work with the DSL, and what they report to the board.
- Guide · Schools
Filtering and monitoring in schools: the annual review and check log
The DfE filtering and monitoring standards and KCSIE 2026: who is responsible, what the annual review covers, which checks to log and what to record.
- Guide · Safeguarding
KCSIE Part one: who must read it, Annex A and the staff declaration
Who must read KCSIE 2026 Part one, what its 82 paragraphs cover, who reads Annex A now, and how to keep a staff declaration and record of reading.
- Guide · Adult social care
Code of conduct for care workers: the seven standards in practice
The Skills for Care and Skills for Health Code of Conduct for care workers in England: the seven standards, sign-up, supervision, breaches and records.
- Guide · Adult social care
Care home missing person policy: search, police report and CQC
What a care home missing person policy must cover in England: the first search, when to call the police, the CQC notification, safeguarding and the record.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Duty to refer to the DBS: when it applies, what to send, what to keep
The duty to refer to the DBS under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006: the conditions, resignations, suspension, what to send and the offence.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Body map safeguarding: what to record, and what staff should not do
How to complete a safeguarding body map in schools, nurseries and care homes: what to record, what staff should not do, and where it goes under KCSIE and EYFS.
- Guide · Safeguarding
Recording racist incidents in schools: what England requires
Recording racist incidents in schools in England: what KCSIE 2026 and the public sector equality duty expect, what a good record holds, and who is told.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Regulation 11 consent: what CQC requires and who can consent
CQC Regulation 11, need for consent, quoted in full: valid and implied consent, refusal, attorneys and families, advance decisions, the record and the offence.
- Guide · Schools
Mobile phone policy for schools: the 2026 rules and confiscation
What a mobile phone policy for schools in England should say under the DfE's statutory guidance from 2026: the ban, confiscation, searches and exceptions.
- Guide · Schools
RSHE policy: what the 2026 guidance requires of schools
What an RSHE policy must contain under the DfE's 2026 guidance: the statutory duties, consulting parents, the right to withdraw from sex education, and records.
Records and data protection
- Guide · Data protection
Data retention policy: UK requirements and how to write one
What UK GDPR storage limitation actually requires, how to build a retention schedule, where the seven-year rule really comes from, and how deletion is proved.
- Guide · Care
CQC record keeping requirements: what Regulation 17 asks for
Which records Regulation 17 requires, what accurate, complete and contemporaneous means, how long to keep them, and how the single assessment framework tests it.
- Guide · Care and CQC
CQC notifications: what you must report, how quickly, and what to record
Every statutory notification under the 2009 Registration Regulations: deaths, serious injuries, abuse, police incidents, events that stop the service, DoLS outcomes, absences and changes, the timescales, the forms, and the incident record an inspector reads them against.
- Guide · Schools
Record keeping in schools: what to keep and how long
The three regimes a school keeps records under, the retention anchors that cover most of the volume, whether to scan or store, and how to dispose of records securely.
- Guide · Charities
Volunteer records: what a small charity needs to keep
A practical register checklist for recruitment, induction, training, restricted records and the steps to take when a volunteer leaves.
- Guide · Data protection
DBS record keeping: what to keep, for how long, and what never to copy
What the DBS code of practice lets you record, the single central record's checklist, the six-month rule for copies and the places a certificate must never appear.
- Guide · Safer recruitment
The single central record: what it must show, who goes on it, and what an inspector checks
What KCSIE 2026 requires on the register: who must be on it and who need not, the seven checks and their dates, agency staff even for one day, trainees, governors, the volunteers brought into regulated activity on 1 September 2026, and the gaps an inspector finds first.
- Guide · Charities
Charity record keeping: what the law requires
What the Charities Act asks of accounting records, the six year rule and its exceptions, what goes in the trustees' annual report, and when an audit is required.
- Guide · Schools
GDPR in schools: what UK data protection law requires
The data protection officer every school must appoint, why consent is usually the wrong lawful basis, biometrics, subject access, edtech suppliers and the 72 hour breach rule.
- Guide · Data protection
School data breach: what counts, the 72-hour ICO test and the log
What counts as a personal data breach in a school, the 72-hour test for reporting to the ICO, what the breach log must show, and when to tell families.
- Guide · Data protection
Privacy notice for schools: what it must say and the DfE models
What a school privacy notice must contain under UK GDPR Articles 13 and 14, how to adapt the DfE model notices, and the notices for pupils, parents and staff.
- Guide · Data protection
Subject access request policy: how to respond, and the exemptions
What a subject access request policy should say, how to respond on time, the exemptions, and the 2025 Act changes to searches and the clock.
- Guide · Data protection
Right to erasure under UK GDPR: when it applies, how to respond
The right to erasure under UK GDPR Article 17: the grounds, the exceptions for legal obligations, safeguarding and care records, and the one-month clock.
- Guide · Data protection
How long to keep employee records in the UK: statutory periods
How long UK employers must keep employee records: PAYE, minimum wage, holiday, right to work, pensions and accidents, with safeguarding periods for schools and care.
- Guide · Data protection
GDPR policy for a small charity: what to include and the DPO test
What a small charity's GDPR policy must cover, the ICO fee, complaints and breaches, and when a charity has to appoint a data protection officer.
- Guide · Data protection
Care home data protection policy: DSPT, Caldicott and breaches
What a care home data protection policy must cover: health data under UK GDPR, the Caldicott principles, the Data Security and Protection Toolkit and breaches.
- Guide · Care and CQC
CQC regulations: the fundamental standards and registration rules
The CQC regulations explained: the fundamental standards in Regulations 9 to 20A, the registration rules, which breaches are offences, and the quality statements.
- Guide · Care and CQC
What policies does a care home need? The list, by regulation
The policies and procedures a care home in England needs, each tied to the CQC regulation or other law that requires it, and why a complete list is not compliance.
- Guide · Work messaging
Message archiving for compliance in schools, charities and care
Why organisations archive work messages – access requests, FOI, safeguarding, disputes – capture after the fact or at source, and Microsoft 365 retention.
- Guide · Adult social care
Care home daily records
What Regulation 17 requires of daily care notes, with practical examples, handover records, access, retention and decisions made between shifts.
- Guide · Adult social care
CQC evidence categories and quality statements
CQC’s six evidence categories, quality statements and rating rules, with practical records for care providers and a note on framework changes.
- Guide · Adult social care
Record keeping in domiciliary care and supported living
Records for home care and supported living: visit notes, medicines, access, missed visits, retention and keeping home and office records aligned.
- Guide · Data protection
Confidentiality policy: what to include and when to share
What a confidentiality policy must cover for a care provider or charity: the common law duty, UK GDPR, Caldicott, and when confidentiality can be broken.
- Guide · Care and CQC
MAR chart: what a medication administration record must show
What a MAR chart is, what it must record, who signs it and when, how PRN and refused doses are recorded, and how long CQC says to keep it.
- Guide · Data protection
Data breach log: what to record for every breach, reported or not
The breach log UK GDPR Article 33(5) requires for every personal data breach: the ICO’s template fields, near misses, charity and care reporting, and retention.
- Guide · Data protection
Charity privacy notice template: donors, volunteers, beneficiaries
What a charity privacy notice must say under UK GDPR Articles 13 and 14, with a template outline for donors, volunteers and the people the charity supports.
- Guide · Data protection
Record of processing activities: what Article 30 requires you to keep
What a record of processing activities must contain under Article 30 UK GDPR, who must keep one, the fewer-than-250-employees exception and how to build it.
- Guide · Data protection
Data protection officer for schools: the appointment and the role
Who the data controller in a school is, why every maintained school and academy must appoint a DPO, who can do the role and how to record it.
- Guide · Data protection
DPIA for schools: when one is required, and what the template holds
When a school must carry out a data protection impact assessment under Article 35 UK GDPR, what the template must contain, and how to sign off and review it.
- Guide · Schools
School exclusion records: the decision, notice and review file
The records the DfE’s July 2026 exclusion guidance requires for each suspension and permanent exclusion: decision, notices, governing board review and IRP.
- Guide · Schools
School accident book: what to record, RIDDOR and how long to keep it
What a school accident book must record for staff, pupils and visitors, which injuries are RIDDOR-reportable, and how long to keep entries under UK GDPR.
- Guide · Schools
School business continuity plan: contents, tests and decision log
What a school business continuity plan should cover under DfE emergency planning, security and digital standards, how to test it, and the records to keep.
- Guide · Data protection
Data protection training for staff: what to cover and what to record
Data protection training for staff in schools, charities and care: what UK GDPR and the ICO expect, who needs it, how often, and the training record to keep.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Domiciliary care policies: what a home care service needs and why
The policies a CQC-registered home care or supported living service needs, from CQC's registration list and the 2014 Regulations, with what home care adds.
- Guide · Care and CQC
CQC statement of purpose: what to include and when to update it
What a CQC statement of purpose must contain under Regulation 12 and Schedule 3, how to keep it current, and how to tell CQC of a revision within 28 days.
- Guide · Care and CQC
CQC Regulation 9: person-centred care and the evidence behind it
Regulation 9 person-centred care quoted in full: assessment with the person, care built around their preferences, involvement, consent and what CQC looks for.
- Guide · Adult social care
Care plan reviews in care homes: what to record when a plan changes
When a care home should review a care plan, who takes part, and what the review record should show: the trigger, the resident’s views, changes and the new plan.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Mock CQC inspection: how to run one that tests the real evidence
How to run a mock CQC inspection of a care home or home care service: scope, evidence requests, observation, interviews, a checklist, scoring, action plan.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Care home quality assurance: an audit calendar and checklist
A practical quality assurance programme for a care home under Regulation 17: the audit calendar, what each audit checks, the action log and provider oversight.
- Guide · Care and CQC
RIDDOR in care homes: what is reportable, and what goes to CQC
Which care home accidents are reportable under RIDDOR 2013, for residents and for staff, the 10 and 15-day deadlines, the record to keep and where CQC fits.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Care records retention: how long a care provider keeps each record
How long to keep care records in England: the 8-year minimum for adult social care records, staff, complaints and incident periods, and recording destruction.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Care home training matrix: topics, refresher periods and the record
What a care home training matrix should show CQC: Regulation 18, the Care Certificate, Oliver McGowan training, refresher periods and how long to keep it.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Care home complaints procedure: Regulation 16 and the complaints log
What a care home complaints procedure and policy must do under CQC Regulation 16, the complaints log to keep, timescales, and the route to the Ombudsman.
- Guide · Data protection
Data protection fee: who pays the ICO, how much and the exemptions
The data protection fee explained: who must pay the ICO, the £52, £78 and £3,763 tiers, why charities pay £52, the exemptions, penalties and the register.
- Guide · Data protection
Information governance policy for care providers: roles and the DSPT
What an information governance policy covers for a care provider in England: the roles to name, the documents beneath it and what the 2026-27 DSPT expects.
- Guide · Data protection
Privacy notice for care home residents and families: what to include
What a care home privacy notice must tell residents and relatives under UK GDPR: lawful basis, sharing, capacity, the opt-out, CCTV and the 2026 changes.
- Guide · Schools
School attendance register: the 2024 rules, codes and retention
What a school attendance register in England must record under the 2024 Regulations: electronic registers, the codes, amendments, retention and LA returns.
- Guide · Schools
Medication records in school: what to record, IHPs and allergy
What a school medication record should show under DfE guidance: doses given, parental consent, IHPs, spare inhalers and adrenaline, and the 2026 allergy duty.
- Guide · Schools
Illness policy in schools: exclusion periods, absence and records
How a school illness policy works in England: UKHSA exclusion periods, when to call the health protection team, code I, medical evidence and sickness returns.
- Guide · Care and CQC
CQC scope of registration: the 14 regulated activities explained
CQC scope of registration for care providers: the 14 regulated activities, personal care or accommodation, exceptions, and adding an activity before you start.
Choosing a tool
- Guide · Choosing
Messaging app with an audit trail: what to look for
What an audit trail means in messaging, why end-to-end encrypted consumer apps cannot provide one, the questions to ask a supplier, and where the record should live.
- Guide · Choosing
Choosing a work messaging app
What Slack, Teams and Google Chat actually differ on, what happens when the people you need have no work account, and what a free plan does to your message history.
- Guide · Care
Staff communication apps for care homes
Care management systems, family apps and staff messaging are three different purchases. What each does, why care teams end up on personal phones, and how to choose.
- Guide · Choosing
An internal communication app for a small charity: what to decide before you choose one
Six questions to settle before comparing products, the options that fit volunteers on their own phones, personal-device security and what free plans keep.
- Guide · Choosing
A GDPR compliant messaging app: what "compliant" has to mean for a UK organisation
No app is compliant on its own: the Article 28 contract, encryption and what it does not do, restricted transfers, the Article 30 record, subject access, retention and the 72 hour breach clock, and the questions to put to any vendor.
- Guide · Work messaging
Encrypted messaging for business in the UK: what it leaves open
What end-to-end encryption protects, what it leaves open, what the NCSC asks of a work messaging app, and the trade-off with keeping and producing a record.
- Guide · Schools
Secure messaging app for schools: what "secure" has to mean
A buyer's guide for schools: what a secure messaging app must do on identity, the record, safeguarding, retention and parents, and the honest alternatives.
- Guide · Work messaging
Secure messaging for social workers: standards and the record
Secure messaging for social workers in England: what Social Work England's standards and online guidance expect, how messages fit case recording, and what to look for.
- Guide · Care and CQC
Home care communication app: what to require before you choose
What a home care provider should require of a messaging app for lone care workers: records under Regulation 17, UK GDPR, the DSPT and lone working.
Early years
- Guide · Early years
Nursery record keeping requirements
The main nursery records required by the EYFS from September 2026, with Ofsted notifications, inspection access, confidentiality and retention.
- Guide · Early years
Childminder record keeping
The EYFS records childminders need, which policies need not be written, Ofsted notifications, inspection access, security and retention.
- Guide · Early years
Early years safeguarding records
Concern records, safeguarding files, referrals and notifications for nurseries and childminders, with information sharing and retention guidance.
- Guide · Early years
Ofsted DBS checks: childminders, household members and nursery staff
Who needs an Ofsted DBS check, which check, how childminders and household members apply, the update service, and what nurseries must check themselves.
- Guide · Early years
Social media policy for a nursery: staff, parents, photos and pages
What a nursery social media policy should cover under the EYFS 2026: the setting’s pages, photo consent, staff accounts, parents’ posts and devices.
- Guide · Early years
GDPR for nurseries and childminders: what the law asks of you
How UK GDPR applies to nurseries and childminders in England: the ICO fee, privacy notices, lawful basis, photos, parents' requests and data breaches.
- Guide · Early years
Notifying Ofsted of changes: what early years providers must report
The changes and events nurseries and childminders in England must notify to Ofsted, the 14-day deadline, how to notify, and the record to keep.
- Guide · Early years
EYFS safeguarding and welfare requirements: section 3, mapped
What section 3 of the EYFS requires of nurseries, pre-schools and childminders in England from September 2026, paragraph by paragraph, and what shows it is met.
- Guide · Early years
Ofsted inspection framework for early years: grades, day and report
How Ofsted inspects nurseries and childminders in England from September 2026: the seven evaluation areas, five grades, the inspection day and the report card.
- Guide · Early years
Progress check at age two: what the EYFS requires, and when
The EYFS progress check at age two for nurseries and childminders in England: the written summary, timing, parents, consent and the health visitor's review.
- Guide · Early years
Nursery complaints procedure: the EYFS rule, 28 days and the record
What the EYFS requires of a nursery complaints procedure in England: the written procedure, the 28-day outcome, the complaints record and the Ofsted route.
- Guide · Early years
Childminder policies: what the EYFS requires and what must be written
Which policies and procedures childminders in England must have under the EYFS, which must be written down, what to share with parents and what Ofsted asks.
Why we write these
We sell a channel your organisation owns, on the record from the first message, filing into your own Microsoft 365. That is a narrow product, and it only makes sense against a duty you already carry. So we write the duties up honestly, cite the regulator rather than ourselves, and say plainly where our product is not the answer.
Every guide is a summary and none of them is legal advice. Where a decision turns on the detail, take proper advice.
How it works · Why us · Pricing · FAQ · Open a channel yourself