March 2015
Changes due to the new children’s homes regulations
Children’s homes directors
1. Regulation 26(4)(i) of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 provides that an organisation (which includes a body corporate, see regulation 2(1)) may only carry on a home if each director (except the director nominated as the responsible individual) who is involved in the carrying on of a home by that organisation satisfies the requirements in regulation 26(6) of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015.
2. Each director must be of integrity and good character and full information must be available in respect of the matters set out in paragraphs 1 to 3 to 6 of Schedule 2 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. However, for directors no DBS check is required. The test is whether the director is ‘involved in the carrying on of a home by the organisation’. This means any director of an organisation who has an active role of some kind in the carrying on a home be it finance, HR or in some other capacity. ‘Director’ includes individuals who perform the functions of or functions similar, or equivalent to directors; see regulation 26(9) of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015.
3. If an organisation’s sole purpose is to carry on children’s homes all directors must submit the information required by Regulation 26(6) of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. (This means submitting a completed SC2 form with the application and agreeing to Ofsted undertaking the necessary checks.)
4. If an organisation has purposes other than carrying on a children’s home those directors involved in the carrying on of their children’s homes must submit the information required by regulation 26(6) and Schedule 2 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. We also advise applicants to take their own legal advice where they are unclear about which directors should submit applications.
5. A proposed director of a children’s home who applies to be the responsible individual for the organisation must satisfy the requirements of regulation 26(5) of the Regulations rather than those required of a director. He or she will have to submit details of a DBS check and will be interviewed as a matter of course.
6. Other directors will only be interviewed should information which indicates a concern about their fitness come to light in the application the person submits, or checks we undertake.
7. If there is a change of Children’s Home Director once an organisation is registered the organisation must notify Ofsted as required by Regulation 49 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015.Inspectors must review how the provider has assured themselves that the new director is suitable to work with children and fit for registration at the next inspection they undertake.
8. Providers must ensure they will be able to provide inspectors with the information at the children’s home the inspector is inspecting rather than expect inspectors to visit where this information is held. Failure to provide such evidence will be taken into account in making inspection judgements and the provider may be required to submit the information without delay to Ofsted as a result of the inspection. Where an organisation has multiple homes inspectors must ensure their checks are recorded on all service files so that the provider is only asked to make this information available once.
9. If an already registered provider makes another application to register a children’s home any Children’s Directors who have not submitted information by completing an SC2 in accordance with Regulation 26(6) will be required to submit such information as part of this application. Again no DBS check will be required to be available.
10. The fitness requirements are ongoing obligations, so come the 1 April providers already registered will need to satisfy themselves that directors meet the fitness requirements and produce evidence at the appropriate stage for example at inspection or if they make an additional application to carry on a children’s home.
Individuals who carry on a children’s home but are not a partnership or organisation
1. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 state an individual provider can only carry on a children’s home if they satisfy the requirements in regulation 26(5) of the Regulations. It further states that an individual can only carry on a children’s home with another individual or individuals if that individual and each other individual satisfies the requirement in regulation 26(5) unless this falls within the definition of an organisation or is a partnership.
2. There is no definition of a partnership as such but regulation 2(2)(d) makes clear that ‘partnership’ does not include limited liability partnerships which are caught by the definition of ‘organisation’. If an individual carries on a home with another individual but there is no partnership as such then each individual will be registered (Regulation 26(2) of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015).
3. It is an offence to carry on a children’s home without registration. Those people who have informal agreements to carry on a children’s home including those who provide financial backing from carrying on a children’s home will need to register to do so. We advise individuals to take their own legal advice where they are unclear about whether they must register.
4. All people who make up an individual provider as detailed above will need to apply to register to carry on a children’s home and must submit information in accordance with Regulation 26(5) as part of an initial application. Each person is equally responsible for ensuring the children’s home operates in accordance with the Care Standards Act 2000 and subsequent regulations, and is named on the certificate of registration. We will always undertake checks and interview these individuals. Any regulatory action we take against this type of individual provider will result in action against each individual person who is registered.
- If one of the individuals decides to cease carrying on the children’s home he or she will need to submit a voluntary cancellation form to Ofsted in order to do so.[1] Once their cancellation has been accepted, their name will be removed from the certificate and a new certificate will be issued. If an additional person is to become a part of the group of individuals carrying on the children’s home this person will need to apply and have their registration approved by Ofsted before he or she can carry on any children’s home run by the group of individuals. Registration is only granted once Ofsted is satisfied the person is fit to carry on a children’s home and a certificate of registration is received from Ofsted.
[1] Application for cancellation of registration form, Ofsted, 2015; www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-apply-to-cancel-registration