Children’s home inspection costs could impact on care

Increases in the cost of inspections for residential children’s homes providers could impact on the quality of care, the National Care Association has warned.

From April providers of residential children’s homes are expected to pay significantly more towards the cost of inspection.

Janet Rich, children’s services development officer at the association, has warned that under a new inspection regime Ofsted will be charging children’s homes up to ten per cent more on their regulatory charges.

The cost comes amid reports of increasing financial pressures facing residential care providers, with local authorities refusing to raise their fees despite rises in bureaucratic, maintenance and other running costs.

Rich said: “This will disproportionately impact particularly on smaller homes as the system of paying per number of children is replaced by a system of paying for the actual calculated cost of inspection.

“While in different times there would be no problem because the additional cost would be quite correctly passed on to purchasers through annual increases in fees, the current climate is such that local authorities are both pressurising providers at the time of placement to drop fees.”

She added that it would be ironic that if the cost of regulation, which is aimed at improving standards, forced some providers to cut corners in service and quality.

A Department for Children, Schools and Families consultation on the setting of annual fees for inspection of children’s social care settings closed yesterday (25 February). The consultation states that is aims to “put in place a more transparent approach to the setting of fees, and move towards full cost recovery for inspection over time”.