Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 41
41
Accepted
High-quality residential care is essential, requiring improved workforce recruitment and training.
Recommendation
We agree that, for most children, a focus on supporting them to live in a family setting is the right one; however, this should not come at the expense of developing and maintaining high-quality residential care for children who need it. We urge the Department for Education to focus on the quality of provision as well as capacity and take steps to improve recruitment, retention and training of the children’s home workforce. (Conclusion, Paragraph 98)
Government Response Summary
The government details multiple steps to improve the children's home workforce, including improving the manager registration process, using workforce data to understand challenges, exploring capital funding for provision, and committing to review qualifications, standards, and training access for the sector.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
It is a legal requirement for all children’s homes to be led by a manager registered with Ofsted. We are committed to improving the registration process to help providers deploy managers more quickly, as set out in ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive’ (November 2024). We are also using data from the 2023 and 2024 workforce census to better understand recruitment challenges and identify ways to support providers. To help address staffing pressures, we are exploring how capital funding can support local authorities in opening or expanding provision, particularly where recruitment issues risk delaying operations. We recognise the need to raise the profile of residential care roles and are considering further steps to support workforce development in this sector. The children’s homes workforce census in 2023 and 2024 showed that most staff working in children’s homes had or were working towards the mandatory qualifications for their roles, as required by the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. The Government has committed to review qualifications, standards and access to training for the children’s homes workforce to ensure they can continue to meet the needs of children in their care. The review will be taken forward in consultation with the sector.