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Over recent months, we have seen a rise in the number of cases where local authorities are attempting to place children in unregistered children\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n
Unregistered children\u2019s homes are illegal and any provider who is providing care and accommodation wholly or mainly to a child in a setting that is not registered with Ofsted, is committing an offence.<\/p>\n
Last year, Ofsted<\/a> opened over 1,000 cases to investigate potential unregistered settings.\u00a0 Over 900 of them were found to be unregistered settings.\u00a0 This was 200 cases more than the previous year.<\/p>\n Local authorities are not required to tell Ofsted when they place a child in an unregistered children\u2019s home and so Ofsted suspect that there are more children living in unregistered children\u2019s homes than it is currently aware of.<\/p>\n This is a worrying trend and demonstrates a significant rise in numbers from previous years.<\/p>\n The Children\u2019s Commissioner has also recently published her report<\/a> into this concerning practice.\u00a0 Dame Rachel de Souza has underscored the fact that children are being placed in unsuitable, poor quality and extremely high-cost settings.\u00a0\u00a0 For example, the Children\u2019s Commissioner found that 33 children were in placements that had each cost the public purse over \u00a31 million.\u00a0 In total, the annual cost of unregistered placements to English local authorities was almost \u00a3440 million.<\/p>\n Against this backdrop, there has been a resounding welcome for The Children\u2019s Wellbeing Bill<\/a>.\u00a0 The Bill covers a range of different proposed matters to ensure enhanced protections for children and young people. A summary of the proposals includes new legislation to:<\/p>\n Further details about the bill and its changes can be found here<\/a> in the Department for Education policy summary notes.<\/p>\n As noted above, we have seen an influx in the number of cases where local authorities are seeking to place children in unregistered provision, sometimes using the justification that a prospective (or existing) provider has a live application for registration with Ofsted and therefore a URN.\u00a0 The existence of a URN does not negate the fact that unregistered children\u2019s homes are illegal and a provider who is providing care and accommodation wholly or mainly to a child is committing an offence.<\/p>\n The landscape for children\u2019s social care has been turbulent, particularly with the recent coverage around missed opportunities for children such as Sara Shariff and Alfie Steele and countless other tragic cases.<\/p>\n We urge providers or prospective providers who have been contacted by a local authority regarding placement of a child in an unregistered provision to seek legal advice so that your situation can be properly considered. The consequences of operating a children\u2019s home without registration can be significant.\u00a0 We are an experienced team of Ofsted solicitors and have significant experience in advising providers across the country.\u00a0 Please do not hesitate to get in touch with Alice Thursfield<\/a> on 01202 786353<\/a> or Alice.Thursfield@LA-Law.com<\/a> so that we can discuss your situation and your specific circumstances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nChildren\u2019s Commissioner Report<\/h2>\n
Children\u2019s Wellbeing Bill<\/h2>\n
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Local Authorities, Ofsted and URN<\/h2>\n
Get In Touch<\/h2>\n