The role of inspections

Inspection is one of the core regulatory tools we use across the HTA. Whilst by no means the only regulatory tool, it provides an invaluable mechanism for assessing compliance with regulatory requirements. 

At a local level, inspection provides a snapshot assessment of a licensed establishment. By looking at that establishment’s history, it also informs a longitudinal view. Across the wider cohort of establishments we regulate, inspection findings provide an insight into key areas of risk which, in turn, helps us to develop our guidance and to fulfil our wider regulatory remit. 

Over recent years, we have sought to better align inspections with our assessment of risk and to introduce greater flexibility into the inspection process. This work has been driven by our strategic ambition to be a risk-based, proportionate, data-driven, modern regulator and acknowledges the fact that an on-site inspection of all relevant licensing standards is a significant undertaking, both for the HTA and those being inspected.  

As an example of this, in 22/23 the HTA carried out an increased number of targeted inspections at establishments. These more focused inspections were restricted to those standards that were assessed as relating to key areas of risk and were carried out where our assessment indicated that this would be proportionate.  

In the same period, we also embedded the use of Virtual Regulatory Assessments (VRAs) either as the whole or an element of the inspection process. This has enabled us to introduce greater flexibility into the inspection process and, in many instances, reduce the amount of time we have needed to be on site by restricting the on-site element to those standards that we consider cannot be adequately assessed remotely. 

Changes such as these have allowed us to significantly increase our inspection coverage, with total inspection numbers for existing licences rising from 140 in 2021/22 (when we reintroduced our formal inspection programme as Covid restrictions were ending) to 210 in 2022/23. The increased inspection numbers compared to more recent years is aimed at enabling us to have suitable coverage across our licensed sectors, with the proposed profile being proportionate to sector size and informed by our assessment of risk. We are maintaining our rigorous assessment process for all new licence applications, carrying out 40 of these inspections in 2022/23, in addition to the 210 inspections on existing licences. 

In 2023/24, we are aiming to undertake 222 inspections of existing licences, a further 5% increase.  

To deliver this target, we will soon be introducing Evaluated Self-Assessments (ESAs) as a new form of inspection. Initially, ESAs will be trialled in the Research sector, but feedback from establishments and the experience we gain from carrying out inspections in this way will inform how we develop this approach in the future.  

We are also about to start a systematic review of our inspection processes. As part of this work, we will be assessing what others do and consider how we might continue to develop and improve our approach. The findings of this review will inform the continuing evolution and development of our inspection approach from 2024/25 onwards.