CYP Now - DfE’s supported accommodation standards ‘worse than envisaged’, sector leaders warn

Social work leaders and people with care experience have criticised the Department for Education’s decision to push forward with plans to implement “inadequate and unethical” standards for supported accommodation housing 16- and 17-year-olds.

The standards do not require children to have locks on their doors. Picture: Bernard Bodo/Adobe Stock

The DfE revealed the plans in its response to a public consultation on proposed national quality standards last week.

They form the basis of a move towards mandatory Ofsted regulation of such settings, which provide accommodation but not care to older teenagers.

The standards omit the need for children living in such settings to be cared for, despite a campaign by sector leaders calling for this practice to be banned for all children in care.

The use of supported accommodation for children in care under the age of 16 was banned in September 2021.

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