Whitmore Care UK Limited v Care Quality Commission

Facts

Whitmore Care UK Limited was registered by the Care Quality Commission on 3 June 2024 as a service provider of the regulated activity of personal care at Suite 2, 132 Lower Road, London SE16 2UG. From October 2024 the Commission wrote repeatedly asking whether regulated activity had been carried on since 4 June 2024; the company confirmed on 28 October 2024, and again in response to further requests in January and March 2025, that none had been. A further request on 6 August 2025 went unanswered. On 6 October 2025 the Commission served a Notice of Proposal to cancel the registration on the ground that no regulated activity had been carried on for over 12 months, and, no representations having been made, issued a Notice of Decision adopting that proposal on 11 November 2025. The company appealed to the First-tier Tribunal on 1 December 2025, contending through its director Mr K Okakpu that documents sent on 30 October 2025 addressing its trading status had failed to reach the Commission because of a transmission error, and that the process had accordingly been procedurally unfair. The Commission maintained that no evidence of regulated activity since 4 June 2024 had ever been produced and that cancellation remained reasonable and proportionate.