Ofsted registers most children’s homes on record ‘to cope with pandemic’
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
More than 170 children’s homes opened across England between April and September this year “possibly to cope with the additional demand caused by Covid-19”, Ofsted has said.
Across England, 176 new children’s homes were registered between 1 April 2020 and 31 August - the highest number for that period in any given year on record, the inspectorate’s local authority and children’s homes in England inspections and outcomes autumn 2020 report shows.
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In the same period in 2019, 136 children’s homes were registered compared with 87 in 2018.
Of the 176 children’s homes registered this year, 155 were run by private companies, 13 were run by local authorities and eight were run by voluntary organisations.
Of these, 23 were registered on the site of a previously closed children’s home and are classed as re-registrations.
“It is possible that LAs and other providers have reopened old settings to cope with the additional demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic or due to other increased demand,” Ofsted states.
In London more children’s homes opened between 1 April and 31 August than during any other period in the past decade, the report shows.
The inspectorate notes that 13 children’s homes opened in the capital between 1 April and 31 August this year.
“This is the largest increase in this region and in this period in at least 10 years,” the report states.
“London has been the region with the fewest children’s homes for many years. Between 1 April 2020 and 31 August 2020, 13 new homes opened, higher than in the same period for at least 10 years.
“This was an increase of 11 per cent, the highest percentage increase of any region. One of these homes was only opened temporarily to cover the additional demand due to Covid-19,” it adds.
In the same period, across England 43 children’s homes closed, all but one of them through resignation of the registration.
The other home had its registration cancelled by Ofsted, the report states.
The report also notes that while inspections were suspended from March, it has carried out 255 monitoring visits to 171 children’s homes between 1 April and 31 August.
Despite the lack of full inspections, four of every five children’s homes are currently judged good or outstanding.