Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on (a) inspection and (b) regulation of semi-independent accommodation for looked-after 16 and 17 year-olds.

Ofsted is responsible for regulating and inspecting settings that provide both care and accommodation, such as children’s homes (including secure children’s homes) and fostering services, in which the majority of children in care are accommodated.

Where it is judged to be in the child’s best interests, local authorities are also permitted to accommodate children in care and care leavers aged 16 or 17 in ‘other accommodation’. This includes a range of settings such as semi-independent units, supported accommodation, hostels, foyers and supported lodgings. These settings provide accommodation with either on-site or floating support. ‘Other accommodation’ settings can provide a useful stepping-stone for young people who are increasingly able to make decisions for themselves but are not fully ready for the challenges of maintaining an independent tenancy. As these settings provide support, rather than care, Ofsted does not regulate them.

Where a local authority places a young person in unregulated provision, it must ensure that the accommodation is ‘suitable’. Suitable accommodation is defined in regulations, which state that, with regard to settings used to accommodate children in care the responsible authority should ensure that:

• the accommodation is suitable for the child in light of their needs, including their health needs;
• it has satisfied itself as to the character and suitability of the landlord or other provider;
• the accommodation complies with health and safety requirements relating to rented accommodation; and
• it has taken into account the child’s wishes, feelings and education, training or employment needs in respect of the responsible authority, so far as reasonably practicable.

Further advice on suitable accommodation is provided in the Children Act Volume 2 statutory guidance, a copy of which is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/441643/Children_Act_Guidance_2015.pdf.

Where a local authority places a young person out of area in unregulated provision there are additional safeguards in place. These require the placing authority to inform the host authority of their intention to place a young person with a provider in the host authority’s area, before confirming the placement. This provides an opportunity to check whether the host authority is aware of any concerns about the setting. This requirement is designed to ensure that poor quality providers are identified and exporting local authorities stop placing children in them.

It is a long-standing principle that the local authority that took the child into care is responsible for supporting them, whether they are placed in that authority or outside the area. This enables the local authority to take into account the full range of needs of the young person and to ensure that if meets all of those needs. Moving to a system of shared accountability could create confusion about who is responsible for providing which services and runs the risk that young people placed out of area are not properly supported by either local authority.