Unregulated children's homes consultation launches
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
The government has launched a consultation over unregulated children's homes, including plans to ban the use of provision for under-16s and the introduction of a minimum national standard for accommodation.
Proposals, as first revealed by CYP Now last week, have also been made to give Ofsted new legal powers to crack down on illegal unregistered providers that are providing care for children without being registered to do so, the Department for Education said.
New measures that require local authorities to partner with police forces before children are placed in unregulated settings, which provide accommodation but not care, away from home also look set to be introduced.
Campaigners have previously raised concerns about the safety of young people living in unregulated and unregistered provision following the publication of a number of recent reports that highlighted risks from abusers and criminal gangs towards 16- and 17-year-olds placed in such settings.
One investigation found dozens of examples of children aged under 16 living in unregulated settings.
The review has been launched “as a matter of urgency” ahead of a wider care review promised in the Conservative Party’s general election manifesto, the DfE said.
Key points covered by the consultation include:
- Banning the use of independent and semi-independent placements for children and young people under the age of 16.
- Driving up the quality of support offered in independent and semi-independent provision, through the introduction of national standards.
- Ensuring young people’s interests are appropriately represented by their Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO).
- Introducing new measures so that local authorities and local police forces liaise before a placement in this provision is made.
- Giving Ofsted new legal powers to crack down on illegal providers.
According to government figures, more than 6,000 looked-after children and young people in England are living in unregulated accommodation, with up to 100 under-16s living in unregulated provision at any one time.
Under the plans, legislation will be amended so that Ofsted can take legal action before prosecution and issue enforcement notices, which will result in illegal providers either being forced to close, register or face a penalty.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson also confirmed that the wider review will be independently led, and look at issues spanning children’s social care
No time frame was given for the launch of the review but Williamson insisted the government plans were “moving forward” and promised to release more details in “due course”.
“There are no circumstances where a child under 16 should be placed in accommodation that does not keep them safe. That is unacceptable and I am taking urgent action to end this practice and drive up the quality of care provided to all vulnerable children.
“Social workers and council chiefs have to make difficult decisions about the children in their care, so it’s important that we agree an ambitious approach to these important reforms to bring about lasting change in children’s social care,” Williamson said.
About time. Enquiry launching to look into unregulated children's homes, whether they should come under #Ofsted @Ofstednews raised by Deputy Director Lisa Pascoe at the Association of Directors of Children's Services annual conference #GroomingGangs https://t.co/6wS2qCSwc2
— Change Social Work UK (@Letter4Change) February 12, 2020
Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s director for social care said the inspectorate welcomed the review.
“Ofsted has long-held concerns about the rise of unregistered children’s homes. Some of our most vulnerable children are living in places where we don’t know if the people caring for them are suitable or skilled enough to meet their needs – this isn’t acceptable.
“We’ve also called for better assurance about the quality of unregulated provision for older children. We need a system where children are getting high-quality care and support, with the right level of oversight. Ofsted stands ready to play its full part in achieving this,” she added.
.@GavinWilliamson rightly says "There are no circumstances where a child under 16 should be placed in accommodation that does not keep them safe...I am taking urgent action to end this practice". But same must apply to 16 & 17 yr olds in care. Do respond to the consultation https://t.co/15Nt714kOl
— Cathy Ashley (@CathyAshley) February 12, 2020
Mark Russell, chief executive at The Children’s Society, said: “We are pleased the government is looking carefully at this issue and recognising the wider issues at play, such as the shortage of places where they’re most needed.
“Children are often placed in these settings in an emergency and out of their home area, where they may not get the support they need and can be at particular risk of going missing and being criminally or sexually exploited.
“All accommodation for children in care has to be suitable for their needs and no child should be placed in accommodation where they are not safe. It’s vital that quality standards are introduced across the board.”
Councillor Judith Blake, chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) children and young people board, cautiously welcomed the review but said: “Good-quality unregulated settings can be the right accommodation for some young people as part of their transition to independence.”
She called on the government to use the consultation to “better understand the pressures on accommodation for children in care and provide appropriate funding and support to ensure that the right homes in the right place are available for all children”.
It appears from today's statistics that around half of 16 and 17 year-olds in care are outside the regulated sector and not receiving care. Wonder how many of these are the subject of a care order? https://t.co/LqZfZSYpaG
— Article 39 (@article_39) February 12, 2020
However, others expressed disappointment over the plans, saying measures also needed to be put in place to protect 16 and 17-year-olds living in unregulated provision.
Carolyne Willow, director of charity Article 39, said the proposals would only benefit two per cent of 6,000 children living in unregulated accommodation.
She branded them "not good enough", saying: “It’s right that no under 16-year-old should be placed in unregulated accommodation, but 16 and 17 year-olds have the right to be cared for too. These are children in the care of the state, and many will be the subject of a care order – made by a family court because they have suffered - or are at risk of suffering - significant harm. It beggars belief that such children are deemed not to need care.
“The Office for National Statistics reported at the end of last year that more than a quarter of adults aged 20- to 34-years-old still live with their parents. Yet here we have ministers saying children in the care of the state can manage without care from the age of 16.”
Article 39 is calling on care-experienced people and professionals to contribute to a draft proposal "which will ensure all children in care receive care".
"This would involve modifications to children’s homes regulations, which would allow older teenagers to still receive care while their growing autonomy is nurtured and respected," Willow said.
Peter Sandiford, chief executive of the Independent Children's Homes Association said the organisation "welcomed" the announcement but echoed calls for care of older teenagers to be included in the consultation.
He said: "The age of majority in this country is 18, yet we have been prepared to treat 16-year-old children, who are in public care, and likely to be among the most vulnerable in society, as if they are ready to live independently with very limited support – something I am sure our members of parliament would not have expected their 17-year-old child to do. By and large children of 16 and 17 need care, not simply support."
Sandiford also called for more registered children's homes to be introduced to combat the use of illegal accommodation for younger children.
He also said that national "quality" standards should be introduced rather "minimum" standards which should be overseen by Ofsted.
"We need to ensure that if a new set of standards is introduced, then like the children’s homes standards, they are ‘quality’ not ‘minimum’ standards and that the proposals for regulation involve registration with and inspection by a national inspectorate not a series of local arrangements. This latter system brought about the need for the Care Standards Act 2000, to address inconsistencies in the quality and reliability of inspection by local authorities," he said.
"Our children do not need, or deserve, to be placed in unseen, unregistered and unregulated accommodation with unknown standards of care."
Last week CYPNow reported on DfE’s plans to launch a consultation on unregulated children’s homes following talks between the government, Ofsted and the LGA.
The move is understood to have come following discussions between a number of key children’s organisations, which concluded that regulation was the best way forward for such provision.