WIREDGOV

For too long children’s residential care has been ignored - leading to unacceptable failings in the system. We’ve worked hard over the last year to identify the problems and are now taking strong action to tackle them.

Children in care should expect the same standards that we would want for our own children. Our reforms will improve the quality of care and tackle the out-of-sight, out-of-mind culture and poor decision making, so vulnerable children are safe.

I’m a strong believer that transparency drives up quality. Our package of reforms will remove the secrecy which has shrouded residential care for too many years - shining a light on where local authorities and care homes can do better.

We are also dealing with the unacceptable problem of too many children going missing from care. In the next 6 months local authorities should review how they work to ensure it is in line with the revised statutory guidance.

• introduce rules so Ofsted will only allow new homes to be opened in safe areas, run by competent providers
• ensure homes already open in less safe areas demonstrate they can protect children - otherwise Ofsted will close them
• set mandatory limits for staff working in children’s homes to achieve minimum qualifications
  

• publish full inspection reports including ownership - unless it risks identifying children
• set out that homes must clearly indicate the type and level of provision they offer so they are equipped to meet the needs of the children placed with them
  

• introduce new rules so homes must tell LAs when children move into and out of the area
• strengthen the rules so a senior official in the LA approves out of area placements that are a significant distance from a child’s home - ensuring it is the best decision for the child
  

Nothing could be more important than the safety and welfare of our most vulnerable children in care.

For this reason, Ofsted welcomes the range of new measures being published by the government, including those which will strengthen our ability to drive up standards in children’s homes and act against poor performing providers to help keep these young people safe.

I am proposing to replace our current ‘adequate’ inspection grading for children’s homes with a new judgement of ‘requires improvement’. This will send a clear signal that good should be regarded as the minimum acceptable standard of provision for all children.

• introducing new rules so children’s homes work much more closely with police and LAs to prevent children going missing
• strengthening the rules so LAs take decisive action where children are at risk of going missing - especially when they are placed away from home

• Three consultations have been published today, which will run until 17 September 2013:
  
  • changes to the Care Planning Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010
  • changes to the Children’s Home Regulations 2001 and the Care Standards Act 2000 (Registration) (England) Regulations 2010
  • statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care
• Today we have published a map showing the location of care homes and ownership sector. We will publish a data pack in July 2013.
• The expert groups were convened in July 2012 following the Rochdale child exploitation trial and reports from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Joint All Party Parliamentary Group Inquiry on child exploitation in gangs, and children who go missing from care.
• Follow this link to read the report of the Expert Working Group on Quality, published on 23 April 2013.