A key part of the Government’s plan to reset children’s social care is the crackdown on the presence of and reliance on unregistered children’s homes, and Ofsted have now published an article setting out how it plans to achieve this.

Civil penalties

Fundamental to Ofsted’s new approach is the power to issue civil penalties to providers operating unregistered homes. Whilst details are currently scarce about the potential level of civil penalties, Ofsted have received funding from the Department for Education to establish a dedicated team to investigate suspected unregistered homes. 

Prospect of prosecution

In addition to the imposition of civil penalties, Ofsted have announced changes to its investigative approach. This includes opening a criminal investigation, visiting the home and gathering evidence to support the prosecution of those responsible for operating and/or managing the unregistered home. 

It is notable that Ofsted have not yet secured a successful prosecution of an unregistered provider, although it reports that one case is currently awaiting sentencing. The combination of civil penalties and formal criminal prosecution underpins the fact that risk sits firmly with the providers of unregistered children’s homes, and it will be interesting to see whether Ofsted’s revised approach translates into substantive enforcement activity as part of the wider system reset. 

Local authorities

Ofsted is also keen to discourage local authorities from placing children and young people within unregistered settings and is expected to consult on proposed changes to the inspection framework for local authorities’ children’s services in support of this. Ofsted has signalled that it may propose that a local authority’s use of unregistered homes could be treated as evidence that it is not meeting the expected standard in relation to sufficiency. 

This proposal is, however, somewhat of a double-edged sword. Whilst local authorities should not have to rely on unregistered providers to meet the needs of children in their area, the reality is that a shortage of suitable placements, coupled with lengthy Ofsted registration times for new provisions, can leave authorities with limited alternatives. There is therefore a concern that authorities could be criticised for issues which are, at least in part, outside of their immediate control. 

Ofsted has acknowledged that it will be reviewing its approach to registration to support the Government’s goal of increasing placement capacity, including the creation of 10,000 new foster care placements. It will be interesting to see how this will look in practice, how these changes will come to fruition and whether they will remove the reliance on unregistered settings. 

We expect further detail on both issues as the wider programme of children’s social care reform develops over the coming months.

If you have any questions, please contact us.