Leadership and Management

Contents

1. Fitness of Premises for Use as a Children’s Home
2. Fitness to Provide or Manage the Administration of the Home
3. Financial Position
4. Notice of Absence
5. Notice of Changes
6. Notification of Offences
7. Death of Registered Person

1. Fitness of Premises for Use as a Children’s Home

When establishing the Home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans.

Considerations to be taken into account in carrying out a location assessment may include:

• Whether the location of the Home influences the potential for an already vulnerable child to be a victim of crime, such as being targeted for sexual exploitation;
• Whether there is a likelihood of children placed in the Home becoming drawn into gang crime or anti-social behaviour in the local area;
• The suitability of the local neighbourhood as a location to care for children who may have already been victims of abuse and neglect; and
• Whether there are environmental factors that would represent a hazard to children, such as locations near level crossings or busy roads.

Location assessments may also identify factors that would positively contribute towards a child's well-being e.g. leisure activities or services to support the child's ethnic or religious identity.

For detailed information on carrying out location assessments, see Children's Homes Regulations Amendments 2014.

This location assessment will be kept under review and amended to take into account any new risks as these are identified.

Where unable to secure information from the relevant partners the use of 'soft' information (i.e. knowledge of the area, verbal feedback from local neighbourhood policing teams or community safety partnership wardens etc.) will be used to inform the  assessment.

The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the Home at least once a year – see Monitoring Quality Procedure, Suitability of Premises (Regulation 46).

2. Fitness to Provide or Manage the Administration of the Home

2.1 Overview

The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high quality care for all children living in the Home. They must lead and manage the Home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the Home's Statement of Purpose. They should also play a key role in shaping the ethos of the Home through developing a culture of high aspiration for children which is demonstrated through the care, resources and opportunities offered to the children.

The registered person should support staff to be ambitious for every child in the Home and to gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each child to achieve their potential. To ensure that staff understand and can meet each child's needs, in line with their responsibilities, the registered person themselves will need to have a high level of understanding of the needs of the children in their care.

The registered person should seek to establish a diverse staff team with a range of interests, skills and experiences. They should lead staff to share those interests, skills and experiences with children to enrich the children's lives.

2.2 Fitness of Registered Provider

An individual may only carry on a children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements as to fitness set out in Regulation 26.

An individual may only carry on a home with another individual or other individuals, otherwise than in a partnership, if that individual and each other individual satisfies the fitness requirements.

A partnership may only carry on a home if each partner satisfies the fitness requirements.

An organisation may only carry on a home if:

• Each director of the organisation, except for a director who is the responsible individual, who is involved in the carrying on of a home by that organisation satisfies the fitness requirements; and
• The organisation has notified Ofsted of the name, address and position in the organisation of the responsible individual.

The fitness requirements are that the individual:

• Is of integrity and good character;
• Is physically and mentally fit to carry on the Home;
• The individual is financially fit to carry on the Home;
• Full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015:
  • Proof of identity including a recent photograph;
  • A DBS check at the appropriate level;
  • Two written references, including a reference from the person's most recent employer, if any;
  • Where a person has previously worked in a position whose duties involved work with children or vulnerable adults verification, so far as reasonably practicable, of the reason why the employment or position ended;
  • Documentary evidence of any relevant qualification;
  • A full employment history, together with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment.

In addition, a responsible individual must have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the Home, or Homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated.

An individual is not financially fit to carry on the Home if the individual:

• Has been adjudged bankrupt, sequestration of the individual’s estate has been awarded or a moratorium period under a debt relief order applies in relation to the individual, and they have not  been discharged from the bankruptcy or the sequestration and the bankruptcy order has not been annulled or rescinded; or
• If the individual has made a composition or arrangement with the individual’s creditors and the individual has not been discharged in respect of the composition or arrangement.

2.3 Appointment of Manager

The registered provider must appoint an individual to manage the Home and notify Ofsted without delay of the name of that manager and the date of their appointment.

Ofsted inspection framework for children’s homes provides that the failure to appoint a manager after 26 weeks where there is no or limited evidence of attempts to recruit/appoint, will usually lead to an inadequate judgement for leadership but never more than requires improvement. Also, the overall judgement is unlikely to be better than good.

If a manager fails to apply to be registered, once appointed for more than 12 weeks, then the judgement for leadership and management will usually be inadequate.

2.4 Fitness of Manager

See Staff Qualifications Procedure, Qualifications and Fitness of Manager.

3. Financial Position

The registered provider must carry on the Home in such a manner as is likely to ensure that the Home will be financially viable for the purpose of achieving the aims and objectives set out in its Statement of Purpose.

The registered person must:

• Ensure that adequate financial records are maintained and kept up to date in respect of the Home;
• Supply a copy of the financial records and most recent accounts, if requested to do so, to Ofsted;
• Provide Ofsted with information requested for the purpose of considering the financial viability of the Home, including:
  • The annual accounts of the Home, certified by an accountant;
  • A reference from a bank expressing an opinion as to the registered provider's financial standing;
  • Information as to the financing and financial resources of the Home and the registered provider;
  • Where applicable, information as to any of its associated companies; and
  • A certificate of insurance in respect of liability in relation to death, injury, public liability, damage or other loss.

4. Notice of Absence

If the person who is in day-to-day charge of the Home proposes to be absent from the Home for a continuous period of 28 days or more, the registered person must give notice in writing to Ofsted of the proposed absence.

Except in the case of an emergency or unforeseen absence, the notice must be given no later than one month before the proposed absence is to start, or within such shorter period as may be agreed with Ofsted, and the notice must specify:

1. The length or expected length of the proposed absence;
2. The reason for the proposed absence;
3. The arrangements which have been made for the running of the Home during that absence;
4. The name, address and qualifications of the person who will be responsible for the Home during the absence; and
5. The arrangements that have been made or are proposed to be made for appointing another person to manage the Home during the absence, including the proposed date by which the appointment is to be made.

Where the absence arises as a result of an emergency or is unforeseen, the registered person must give notice of the absence within one week of its occurrence.

The registered person must notify Ofsted of the return to duty of the person in day-to-day charge of the Home  not later than 7 days after the date of return.

5. Notice of Changes

The registered person must give notice in writing to Ofsted as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so if any of the following events takes place or are expected by the registered person to take place:

• A person other than the registered person carries on or manages the Home;
• A person ceases to carry on or manage the Home;
• The registered provider change their name;
• There is to be any change in the identity of the responsible individual, or there is any change of director, manager, secretary or other similar officer;
• The registered provider has a trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, manager, liquidator or provisional liquidator appointed;
• The premises of the Home are significantly altered or extended, or additional premises are acquired.

6. Notification of Offences

Where the registered provider, the registered manager or the responsible individual is convicted of any criminal offence, that person must without delay give notice in writing to Ofsted of:

1. The date and place of the conviction;
2. The offence of which they were convicted; and
3. The penalty imposed on them in respect of the offence.

7. Death of Registered Person

If more than one person is registered in respect of the Home and a registered person dies,

the other registered person must notify Ofsted of the death in writing without delay.

If only one person is registered in respect of the Home, and that person dies, that person’s personal representatives must notify Ofsted HMCI in writing:

• Without delay, of the death; and
• Within 28 days, of their intentions regarding the future running of the Home.

The personal representatives of a deceased registered provider:

• May carry on the Home without being registered in respect of it;
  • For a period not exceeding 28 days;
  • For such further period, not exceeding one year, as Ofsted may determine and notify to the personal representatives in writing;
• Must appoint a person to take day-to-day charge of the Home during any period in which they carry on the Home without being registered in respect of it; and
• Must have regard to children’s welfare when acting in relation to the operation of the Home and its future.