CYP Now - Tougher standards for disabled children's care providers 'worth considering', says Ofsted chief

Increasing the regulation of disabled children’s residential care providers should be investigated in light of recent safeguarding failings in the sector, Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman has told MPs.

Ofsted chief told MPs that increasing regulations for providers caring for children with SEND was worth considering. Picture: Amanda Spielman/Ofsted

Giving evidence to an education select committee hearing this week on severe safeguarding failures at three private children’s homes in Doncaster, Spielman said that increasing standards for children’s homes caring for young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), is something that “deserves to be looked at”.

She added that the current regulatory system has “nothing baked into the framework about the level of need of the children”, but warned that increasing regulation standards for these providers comes with a risk of making it harder for providers to meet expectations.

“There’s a tension there,” she said. “Getting it right is tough.”

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