Inspections Clinic: Supported accommodation

Ofsted has published guidance on the inspection of supported accommodation for care leavers aged 16 and 17 but has said inspections will start in September instead of getting under way this April.

The delay is due to the large number of registration applications received by the regulator.

“At the start of this process, the sector was really worried people wouldn’t register,” says Ofsted’s national director for social care Yvette Stanley. “We welcome the fact so many have – a higher number than anyone anticipated.”

Many applications are from providers that already accommodate children and young people.

“Making sure these places can be registered and the children are safe is a higher priority for me than quickly rolling out an inspection regime,” explains Stanley.

“While we register people the sector can start to adjust and prepare itself for inspection.”

The high volume of applications is encouraging amid rising demand and a shortage of other types of placement.

Figures from the Department for Education show the number of looked-after children placed in unregulated placements such as semi-independent living or living independently increased from 7,500 in March 2022 to 8,980 in March 2023.

At the time of writing, nearly 1,200 supported accommodation registration applications had been completed.

According to Ofsted, these come from a variety of providers who have nearly 9,000 different premises between them – although not all will be housing 16- to 17-year-olds at any one time.

Some are new to the sector while others are existing providers of accommodation including children’s homes or provision for adults.

Ofsted said only a very small proportion of applications had been turned down.

“The most common reasons for a full rejection are the provider’s insufficient understanding of the regulations and the needs of young people, a manager’s lack of required experience, or a combination of these two things,” explains an Ofsted spokesperson.

Sub-standard accommodation has been a factor in some cases, according to Stanley. “Fundamentally, our children need a decent home,” she says. “It needs to be warm and safe. The electrics and plumbing need to be fine – before you even get to the wifi.”

Supported accommodation encompasses a wide variety of settings and providers – from large-scale providers to individuals with a spare room.

Under the new regime, Ofsted is registering and regulating providers as opposed to individual settings meaning inspectors may visit a sample of accommodation run by larger organisations.

Following an inspection, providers will receive one of three new inspection outcomes (see box) which were revised following public consultation.

Stanley says Ofsted listened and acted on concerns that some of the wording was “skewed to the negative”.

“We had feedback that the second outcome was a bit too harsh. We tested that on inspection and think we have now struck the right balance,” she says.

Ofsted carried out 13 pilot inspections to test policy and practical matters such as the amount of notice.

“Providers would like you to give more notice and children would like you to be there with no notice,” says Stanley. “The challenge for us is that if we arrived with no notice and all the young people are at work or college, how do we get the insights? So there is a delicate balance.”

Inspections will start as soon as an inspection is announced but inspectors will not visit until two working days after the announcement.

Children’s priorities

The consultation included a survey of young people who said mental health support and help to develop life skills and plan their futures were particularly important to them.

Many in the sector – especially charities that responded to the consultation – feel the premise of supported accommodation for children aged under 18 is fundamentally flawed and all looked-after children should receive the kind of “care” more typically provided by a children’s home or foster carers.

A research review by Ofsted makes it clear supported accommodation is not the right option for every child, especially those with complex needs.

“We would not, for example, expect to see children who are deprived of their liberty, or need ongoing high levels of supervision or personal care, in this type of provision,” says Ofsted’s consultation response.

Stanley believes Ofsted’s insights will be useful in the wider debate about the level of care and support looked-after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17 should be getting.

“I’m starting with the assumption local authorities shouldn’t be moving children into supported accommodation until they are ready for that,” she says.

“I think we’ll be able to reflect back to the sector whether they are moving children into supported accommodation too early. The law doesn’t require you to do it by a particular time, it should be responding to a child’s needs, ambition and your ability to support them.

“We’ll also be able to reflect back to providers on what keeps children safe, what supports them in making that steady move towards independence.”

If an inspector comes across a case where a child is not in the right type of provision then Ofsted will act, says Stanley.

“If we had a concern that a placement evidently wasn’t meeting the child’s needs and probably they needed a very different sort of provision then that’s absolutely the conversation we would have with the local authority,” she says.

Young people’s needs – and readiness for independence – can fluctuate and there will be times when 16- and 17-year-olds in supported accommodation require extra help.

“We expect inspectors to be sensitive to this, and not to penalise providers that provide support that may, at times, look like the type of care more usually provided by a children’s home or foster carer,” says the consultation response.

Preparing for inspection: Support for providers and councils 

By Caroline Coady, deputy director of practice and programmes, National Children’s Bureau

Since February 2023, the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), working closely with Ofsted, has been delivering the Department for Education’s Supported Accommodation Sector Awareness and Provider Preparedness programme. The programme has reached more than 1,000 providers and 120 local authorities through a wide range of activity, supporting understanding of the process for registering with Ofsted as well as raising awareness of the new quality standards.

Our goal for this programme is that young people living in supported accommodation experience high-quality support, from adults they can trust and who care about them, in nurturing environments that prepare them for adult life. While we are clear that supported accommodation should not be the default for 16- and 17- year-olds in care, the requirements set out in the quality standards and the new regulatory regime can make a significant difference to the quality and consistency of support in this sector.

Our work with care-experienced young people informed our approach from the outset. Young people shared the type of support they want through a collaboration with the Chickenshed theatre company in 2023. In addition, we co-facilitated a series of workshops with young people with lived experience to equip providers with the skills and knowledge they need to ensure young people’s rights and entitlements are well understood.

For local authorities, key priorities included minimising disruption for young people as providers progress through registration and concerns about the sufficiency of high-quality placements. Many were worried that registration may lead to providers leaving the sector.

The programme has responded to the needs of the sector by setting up communities of practice for providers and local authority commissioners to enable peer support and collaboration. NCB has delivered more than 70 training events and resources, including e-learning and FAQ (frequently asked questions) resources, reaching more than 2,700 practitioners.

This activity has covered a wide range of themes including safeguarding, quality assurance, workforce and meeting individual needs. We have covered topics including trauma-informed practice and worked with Barnardo’s and the UK Trauma Council to look at support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people.

Some providers continue to share their worries about what to expect from Ofsted site visits and the inspection regime. Our response is simple, the responsibility of providers is not to Ofsted but to the young people they support. Staff must be able to demonstrate how they are meeting the needs of young people, keeping them safe, ensuring they can be part of their communities, and feel ambitious about their futures.

Young people deserve our time and attention and for their views and wishes to be central, whether in individual interactions and support planning or in the design of services, policies and practical arrangements.

Based on a snapshot of Ofsted management data in February 2024, there are nearly 800 providers operating legally and low rates of refusal. Alongside the level of engagement in our programme is a clear indication of a sector striving to improve and committed to providing high-quality support to young people.

Next steps: The programme’s activities concluded in March but the resources and e-learning will continue to be available via the NCB website at www.ncb.org.uk.

NCB remains committed to ensuring supported accommodation providers progressing through the Ofsted registration process can do so in a timely way. For young people in, as yet, unregistered settings, there must be a particular focus on ensuring quality of support is monitored effectively by the local authorities responsible for their care.

New inspection outcomes

• Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. Next inspection: within approximately three years.

• Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. Next inspection: within approximately 18 months.

• Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings. Next inspection: approximately six months.

Source: Social care common inspection framework: supported accommodation for looked-after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17

Inspection shorts

Ofsted: Ofsted has urged children’s services professionals to take part in a major, new consultation on the way it works. The consultation – The Big Listen – will run for 12 weeks, closing on 31 May. The questions cover key areas including how Ofsted carries out inspections and reports its findings. The consultation exercise will also feature surveys and focus groups with professionals and parents with a dedicated strand for children and young people. Chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver promised it would be followed by “real action”.

Education: Inspectors will explore how young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are being supported to achieve their full potential as part of a new series of in-depth visits. The visits by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission will assess how well young people with SEND are being prepared for adulthood spanning early years services to post-16 education. This will include looking at how young people are empowered to make decisions, are supported to participate in society and stay healthy. Findings will be shared in a report due in the autumn.

Youth justice: Enfield Youth Justice Service has been rated “good” overall following an inspection by HM Inspectorate of Probation. Inspectors found the service understood the needs of children and offered activities including state-of-the art sport, music production and IT facilities. They found a strong focus on the needs of black and mixed heritage children but said more work was needed to address over-representation of these groups in the youth justice system.

Social care: Inspectors highlighted a lack of support for care leavers from Peterborough’s children’s services, which have been rated “inadequate” following an Ofsted inspection. Services were previously rated “good” but inspectors, who visited in November last year, found a deterioration in the quality of practice. They found care leavers were not supported to make progress with some said to have “sofa surfed” after leaving care. Director of children’s services John Gregg said the authority had put robust plans in place and was working with staff and partners to make improvements.

Health: Maternity services at Royal Surrey County Hospital have been rated “outstanding” by the Care Quality Commission. Inspectors found staff worked well together and the management of safety incidents and learning from them was good. The hospital as a whole is now also rated outstanding. Chief executive Louise Stead said the achievement was testament to the hard work and dedication of staff.