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

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. 

• Unregulated accommodation for 16- and 17-year-olds cannot be normalised

• Put end to unregulated provision for under-18s, urge campaigners

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

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) says the standards, which do not require children’s rooms to have locks on their doors or for staff to undergo compulsory training, “would be tantamount to institutionalised neglect in any other setting”. 

The new standards, which will be introduced in the autumn, also allows the use of barges, tents and caravans as accommodation for children. 

A statement from BASW adds: “It is discriminatory and wrong to deprive a child of care – no good parent would arbitrarily stop caring for their child once they reached 16. 

“We are extremely disappointed by the content of this report; this could have been a pivotal moment to put an end to the desperate neglect, poverty, and exploitation faced by children in unregulated accommodation. The potential for some private companies to further profit from these settings, rather than vulnerable children in need of care remains a very real concern.” 

Rebekah Pierre, a care leaver who was housed in unregulated supported accommodation as a teenager, told CYP Now that the standards “are even worse than what we had envisaged”. 

She said: “The fact that the government could actually approve standards that are so shoddy that a door lock isn't even a necessity for a young person or that day-to-day care isn't provided is an absolute shambles and more children and young people will face severe risks because of that.  

“I think that reading [the standards] as someone who was in unregulated as well as other informal care settings where I felt unsafe, having a door lock was the only barrier between myself and adults that I didn't feel safe around. I saw that it costs £17 to install a door lock, so the fact that £143m could be spent on standards that don't even offer that is shambolic.” 

Pierre described plans for Ofsted to inspect settings every three years as “a gross failure and also a huge risk”.  

“We're talking about some sort of society's most vulnerable children who may spend two years in one of these settings and never ever be seen by an independent authority. It's really clear to me that the government has prioritised private providers over children. 

“The children's minister describes the settings as something that will give children a better chance of success in the future. But how can you have a better chance of success if you are a vulnerable child who is living with adults potentially fresh out of prison or if you're living in a setting where drugs are regularly sold, and there's no controls?  

“Rather than a better chance of success in the future, it’s a recipe for failing and depriving children of their futures,” she said. 

Meanwhile, Become, the charity for children in care and care leavers, wrote on Twitter: “We're very disappointed in DfE's response to the supported accommodation consultation. Our concerns remain: children will still be placed in unsafe, unsuitable settings - including ones that even the government acknowledges are inappropriate.” 

Latest government statistics, show that in the year to 31 March 2022, there were 7,370 children in care, aged 16 and 17, living independently or in semi-independent accommodation. 

This is equivalent to over a third of all looked-after children aged 16 and 17. 

Of all children aged 16 and 17 living in such settings in the same time period, more than 40 per cent were unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, figures show.