The government has just published the outcome of its consultation on fees and frequency of inspection regulations 2022-2023 for children’s home providers.
Between 19 November 2021 and 14 January 2022 the government consulted on:
- A 10% increase on current fees payable by children’s social care providers, for those providers which are not already at full cost recovery;
- The introduction of new fees for providers who wish to include multiple buildings under one children’s home registration; and
- Resetting the three-year inspection cycle for residential family centres, voluntary adoption agencies, adoption support agencies and fostering agencies.
The Consultation’s Findings
- 10% increase in fees
Most providers were nowhere close to paying off the costs associated with inspection costs and regulatory activity undertaken by Ofsted, the regulator for educational institutions and children’s homes. Ofsted found 70% of providers were paying less than 50% of the total costs. A 10% increase in fees was proposed to close this gap. Providers already at full cost recovery level will be capped at the full cost rate. 54% of respondents said that the fee increase would have a minor, neutral or no effect and 38% said it would have a moderate effect.
- New Fees
Ofsted have been considering how to boost capacity and create more flexibility in the provision of care. As part of this they proposed allowing providers to accommodate up to six children across four different buildings under one registration. The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 (“the 2015 regulations”) do not currently include a specific fee category and the government has proposed to introduce a new fee category in line with Ofsted’s current cost model. 78% of respondents agreed with this proposal and welcomed the ability for providers to register multiple buildings under one registration.
- Resetting Three Year Inspection Cycle
According to regulation 27(1)(b) of the 2015 regulations, children’s homes are to be inspected at least once in every three year period. However, due to the pandemic a huge backlog has been created. In order to address this and avoid requiring Ofsted to reach an unattainable goal, the government has proposed to reset the three year inspection cycles, even if this results on some providers being inspected only once in more than three years. 73% of respondents were in favour, but highlight that this could extend the period between inspections for some providers.
