Recommendation 2

It is unacceptable that children are placed in illegal settings that are not inspected, increasing safety risks and offering no assurance over the quality of care. Over the last five years, local authorities have reported placing more and more children into unregistered homes. It is illegal to run a children’s home or supported accommodation that is not registered with Ofsted, who cannot routinely inspect these unregistered settings. As such, there is a lack of checks to ensure that children receive high quality care and that they and the wider community are safe. Local authorities do not take the decision to use these homes lightly, only doing so when no registered settings are available, but in September 2024 nearly 800 children in England 3 were in illegal accommodation. However, rather than being used only in short-term emergency circumstances, children stayed an average of around six months in such accommodation. Placing children in unregistered homes is particularly undesirable where their liberty has been taken away through a court order. Delays to Ofsted registering new homes will contribute to some homes remaining unregistered, with Ofsted now introducing targets to register homes within 18 months or two to six months for priority cases. The Department expects it will take two years for improvements to the residential care system to take effect and address the shortages of places that contributes to local authorities using unregistered homes. recommendation In its Treasury Minute response, the Department should reaffirm its commitment to reducing the number of children in unregistered homes to zero by the end of 2027 and set out the specific actions it will take to do so.