Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
The Ministry and HMPPS are relying on a provider to deliver the new secure school...
Recommendation
The Ministry and HMPPS are relying on a provider to deliver the new secure school model, but the approach they are taking is untested and there are insufficient safeguards in place. The Ministry and HMPPS appointed a provider, Oasis Charitable Trust (Oasis), in July 2019 although Oasis has not previously provided secure accommodation for children. It was only following discussions with the Charity Commission that HMPPS later realised legislation was needed to allow a charity to run a secure school. HMPPS intends to move away from contracting and instead work in partnership with the provider to deliver the secure school. It will use a Funding Agreement, rather than a contract, to manage the provider. But it is still working out the essential details of this arrangement, including how it will incentivise the provider to accept the wide range of children that HMPPS would like it to accept, and how it would manage underperformance. Secure training centres and secure schools 7 Recommendation: The Ministry / HMPPS should set out how the Funding Agreement will incentivise the secure school provider to deliver high-quality care for all children in custody, including how they would manage underperformance or children being refused a place.
Government Response Summary
The government will use a Funding Agreement package, including handbooks and a 'ladders of intervention' approach, to incentivise the secure school provider to deliver high-quality care. The school will be subject to independent monitoring and Ofsted regulation, and clauses in the Funding Agreement will ensure the school is committed to providing a 49-bed service.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. school providers) will be supplemented by handbooks on finance, governance and assurance (setting out requirements and expectations on the secure school provider, including performance). The Funding Agreement package is being completed and will detail performance reporting and issue management. It will adapt the ‘ladders of intervention’ approach from the Department for Education to drive improvements, escalating through formal directions and termination where required. In addition to these arrangements, the secure school will be accountable to its governing trust. There will be independent monitoring of the quality of care in place per Regulation 44 of the Children’s Home Regulations 2015 and Ofsted will have comprehensive regulatory powers under the Care Standards Act 2000 when the secure school opens. As a registered children’s home, the secure school will have a statutory right to refuse a placement if it believes the child cannot be safely or properly accommodated or, when accommodating, it would have a detrimental impact on other children at the school. Clauses within the Funding Agreement will ensure the school is committed to providing a 49-bed service suitable for the full range of the custody cohort, and that the statutory right to refuse is exercised appropriately. The secure school provider has a legal obligation (per Section 10 of the Academies Act 2010) to consult the local community on whether it should enter into the Funding Agreement. This consultation must be concluded, and the findings considered prior to the Funding Agreement being signed.