Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children’s home providers in (a) Milton Keynes and (b) Buckinghamshire meet national staff training requirements on trauma-informed care.

The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and associated statutory guidance ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, make it a requirement for children’s homes providers and managers of children’s homes to ensure staff have the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the children and provide high-quality care. This includes ensuring staff have or are working towards mandatory qualifications and have access to on-going professional development and training, including training on understanding and addressing trauma in children.

Ofsted inspects children’s homes on a regular basis, at least once a year, and reports on the effectiveness of leaders and managers in ensuring staff are qualified, have access to regular training and support, and are competent in their roles.

The government has committed to reviewing qualifications, standards and access to training for the children’s homes workforce, to ensure they are able to meet the needs of children in care.