5th October 2023 • My Family Our Needs
Francesca Snape, associate at Markel Law and care sector specialist, examines how the new rules from Ofsted are set to deliver additional regulatory responsibilities for those providing supported living to children in care and care leavers aged 16 to 17.
A review into how the children’s social care system could be improved, chaired by Josh McAlister and published last year, found that some 5,860 children spent time in unregulated accommodation away from their home area in 2018/2019, a 128% increase on the 2012/2013 figure.
The decision to regulate the organisations providing supported living to 16- and 17-year-olds by Ofsted was fairly uncontroversial. It followed previous changes whereby any setting providing care and/or accommodation to children under 16 were required to register with Ofsted. Prior to April this year any service that was providing ‘care’ for those aged 16 and 17 was required to register with Ofsted as a children’s home, whereas supported accommodation services fell outside of the scope of registration. This left a ‘loophole’ that allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to be supported outside of any regulatory scrutiny.
New criminal offence
In response, the government accepted the urgent need to regulate supported living providers for those aged 16 to 17. From April 2023, those providing this type of provision were expected to begin applying to Ofsted for registration. The deadline for supported living providers to register is the 28th October 2023. If an organisation provides supported accommodation on or after this date without registration, it will be committing a criminal offence under the new legislation. This brings supported living providers in line with the other children’s social care services already regulated by Ofsted, including children’s homes and family residential centres.
To support the new Ofsted regime the Government has introduced a range of new care standards. When Ofsted carry out inspections of supported living settings, these are the standards against which they will be judged and graded.
Additional risks for care operators
There has been little public complaint over the plans, and it will likely be viewed by some as surprising that unregulated provision (for under 16’s and over) in respect of society’s most vulnerable children, were able to operate without regulation for so long.
For some of the organisations that have not previously fallen within the scope of registration, the registration and subsequent inspection regime is likely to be a steep learning curve. The aim of the changes has been to ensure there is consistent regulation, but also to raise standards across the sector.
Looking to the future
As with other Ofsted regulated settings, members of the public will be able to check the registration status of any setting or provider on Ofsted’s website. The public will also be able to look at whether care providers are meeting the requisite standards through inspection reports. For anyone who has concerns about the care a young person is receiving, there will now be a regulatory body, namely Ofsted, for those concerns to be reported into, which will hopefully increase public confidence and ultimately standards across the sector.
Care leavers are faced with uncertainties around leaving the care system and becoming fully independent. Supported accommodation providers play a crucial role in ensuring their success and these changes should be a positive step forward in monitoring and improving the latter end of the care system for young people.
Francesca Snape is a solicitor in the regulatory team at Markel Law, based in their Manchester office. She is a specialist in regulatory work, defending both businesses and individuals under investigation or facing regulatory action, with a particular specialism in education, health and social care regulation.
Francesca understands the immense pressures that come with operating a regulated business and the impact an adverse finding can have. She supports organisations to robustly challenge unfair findings and to resolve regulatory issues as swiftly as possible in order to minimise the impacts on businesses, reputations and most importantly, the individuals they provide services for.