Children’s homes face no-notice inspections from April

All children’s homes are to undergo unannounced inspections from 1 April, under Ofsted’s inspection framework launched today.

The introduction of unannounced inspections followed suggestions raised by children during the watchdog’s consultation on its revised inspections for children’s homes.

The Department for Education is also set to publish new regulations and national minimum standards for children’s homes. All inspections of children’s homes carried out by Ofsted will take into account these regulations and standards.

John Goldup, Ofsted’s national inspection development director, said: “The quality of residential care for children is vitally important. High-quality care has the potential to turn a young person’s life around. Poor-quality care can ruin it.

“We need to be sure that inspection is absolutely focused on the things that make the most difference to children and young people.”

Under the new framework children’s homes will be inspected twice yearly. A full inspection will take up to two days to complete, while the interim will focus on the progress made since the last full inspection.

Under the arrangements, when a children’s home is judged inadequate, there will be a follow-up inspection within three to six months.