Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introducing a "special circumstances" policy permitting 16- and 17-year-olds with specific care needs to be placed in CQC registered provision.

Young people aged under 18 may, in certain circumstances, be accommodated in services registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Whether registration with CQC is appropriate depends on the facts of the individual case, the nature of the service being provided and the relevant statutory and regulatory frameworks. Guidance is available to providers and local authorities on the respective regulatory responsibilities of Ofsted and CQC, including the joint Ofsted and CQC guidance ‘Children's homes and health care: registration with Ofsted or CQC’, which sets out the circumstances in which services should be registered with Ofsted, CQC, or both regulators.

The CQC does not have a published provision directly equivalent to Ofsted's special circumstances policy. The department is working with the Department for Health and Social Care, Ofsted, and the CQC to explore how regulation can support and improve transitions into adult services. As part of this work, the department keeps policy and regulatory arrangements in this area under review, including issues relating to young people transitioning into adult services.