Apply to register a children's home

Question 1

Who needs to fill in the form

Accepted Answer

Who needs to fill in the SC1 form depends on the type of provider you are.

Organisations, including limited liability partnerships

To fill out the form, you must be in one of the following roles, or be authorised by someone in one of the following roles:

a director acting for the company
an individual performing the same or similar functions as a director
a partner
a trustee, director or chairperson acting for a charity or statutory body
a chairperson or committee member acting for a committee

Partnerships not registered as limited liability partnerships

To fill out the form, you must be one of the partners acting on behalf of all the partners in the partnership.

Individual providers

If you are an individual provider, you must fill out the form yourself.

If you are a group of individuals (not operating as a partnership or company), one of those individuals must fill out the form.

Question 2

Information you will need to provide

Accepted Answer

We will ask for information about the children’s home you want to register with Ofsted, and those who will be associated with your service.

You will need to provide:

your company’s registration details (which must match the details recorded on Companies House)
your unique reference number (URN) if you have applied to register, or have been registered, with Ofsted previously for any type of service
previous applications and registration details for children’s social care services
previous applications and registration details for any early years provision
previous applications and registration details for adult social services
information about the children’s home you want to register
details of your premises and any travel arrangements between multiple premises
the range of fees that you will charge
the date you plan to open your children’s home
the maximum number of children you will look after (if you want to provide care and accommodation for a mother and her baby, the baby counts towards the total number unless the home is registered as a single-bed home)
the Care Quality Commission (CQC) provider ID number, if any
the Department for Education (DfE) school registration number, if any
individuals you want to link to the registration, such as managers
an original Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate for everyone who needs one
details of a responsible individual who can submit their an Apply to be associated with a children’s social care service (SC2) form as part of the application

The form asks for a lot of information. It can take several hours to complete. Gather everything you need before you start.

You can save your progress and come back to it later if you do not have all the information.

Previous Ofsted applications and registrations

If you’ve applied to register any social care or early years provision with Ofsted before, we will need its unique reference number (URN).

Question 3

Unique reference number

Accepted Answer

Your URN will be on correspondence regarding the relevant registration, and will follow a certain format:

for social care registrations before 2015, the URN starts with SC and has 6 digits, for example SC123456
for social care and early years registrations from 2015, the URN is 7 digits, for example 1234567
for early years registration before 2015, the URN starts with EY and has 6 digits, for example EY123456

We also need the URN of:

any holding companies registered with Ofsted
any registered services in which you have a financial interest

Holding company and subsidiary details

If you have a holding company with subsidiaries registered with Ofsted, you will need to tell us the name, trading start date, URN, address and contact details for each subsidiary.

If your organisation is a subsidiary of a holding company, you must tell us the holding company’s name, trading start date, registered company number (or charity number, if applicable), address and contact details. You must also tell us about all the other subsidiaries of your holding company.

You must also give us the accounts for the last 2 years for your holding company and all its subsidiaries.

Previous applications and registrations

Ofsted must know about all of your previous applications and registrations for children’s social care services, adult social care services and early years provision.

We will ask whether you have:

made a previous application
had a previous application refused
been registered or licensed to run a service
had a registration cancelled

If you answer yes to any of those questions, we will request further information.

The information we need about previous applications includes the URN. If you do not have a URN for that service (for example, adult social care services), then you will need to tell us about the type of service, dates of application, reason for the refusal (if relevant) and which public authority dealt with the application.

We also need to know who you registered with, how long the registration was for and the type of service. If you have had a registration cancelled, you need to provide either the URN or details about the service, including dates of registration and why it was cancelled.

Question 4

Documents required for your application

Accepted Answer

We cannot accept your application unless you have provided all the documents that we need, and all the people who need to provide an Apply to be associated with a children’s social care service (SC2) form have done so.

With the SC1 form, you will need to provide:

your statement of purpose
evidence of planning permission
your certificate of insurance or written confirmation that insurance will be provided
your guide for children
your missing child policy
your positive behaviour support policy
your safeguarding policy
your prevention of bullying policy
your complaints procedure
your location assessment
evidence of financial viability, including your business plan and cashflow forecast
if you are registering as a company, your last 2 annual reports and accounts (if available)
your charitable objects, if applicable
your partnership agreement (for applications from partnerships)

When you are completing the SC1 or SC2 form, you are required to disclose other information that the Care Standards Act 2000 identifies as relevant to your application. We will also ask to see other policies at different stages of the process, for example during a site visit.

Statement of purpose

You must have a unique statement of purpose for each children’s home that you are applying to register. Their contents will vary according to the type of home that you intend to operate.

The statement of purpose should meet the requirements of The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015.

We will take the quality of the statement of purpose into account when making our decision about your fitness to practise.

Planning permission

You must tell us whether any planning permission is required. We strongly recommend that you wait until any required planning permission is granted before you apply. This is because there can be significant delays in getting planning permission, which may result in us returning your application to you (and your fee will not be refunded).

You must provide us with a copy of one of the following:

evidence of planning permission
confirmation from the local authority that no planning permission is required
confirmation from the local authority that the proposed property’s current use class is allowed
a copy of your planning permission application

We cannot carry out a registration visit until you have provided us with one of the above.

If you only send a copy of the planning permission application and we don’t receive the full planning permission within 12 weeks, we may not be able to make a decision on your application.

If you are appealing a planning decision, you should notify us of this. We will consider extending the timescale.

Certificate of insurance

You must get a certificate of insurance for death, injury, public liability, damage or other loss before your home starts to operate.

We appreciate that some insurers will not provide this until registration is granted. In this case, you must give us written confirmation that you will have a certificate of insurance before you start to operate. If the name and address of the home are not included on the certificate, you must prove that it is covered before you start to operate.

Children’s guide

All applications must include a children’s guide.

When creating this, it is important that you have in mind the level of understanding of those who are going to read it. The type of words you use, the pictures you include and the level of detail you go into should help every child who reads it to understand the important things about your children’s home and what they can do to tell you if they think that something is not right.

Policies

It is important that the policies you have reflect your statement of purpose and match the needs of the children you intend to care for.

Policies must follow relevant government guidance but should also be tailored to the children who will be living in your home.

Missing child policy

This should tell staff what to do when children are missing from the home. It should explain how to respond based on individual children’s needs and vulnerabilities, and should reflect local authority reporting protocols.

Safeguarding policy

This policy should reflect local authority protocols for safeguarding and child protection. It should also explain how to work with the child’s placing authority if there are safeguarding concerns.

It must also explain:

who is responsible for safeguarding in your organisation
who manages any concerns raised about the nominated safeguarding lead
what happens if someone makes an allegation against a member of staff
what action you will take if a child needs protection

Behaviour support policy

This policy explains how staff support children’s behaviour and the home’s approach to the use of restraint. It should detail the positive and proactive measures that staff should take to prevent, deflect or avoid restrictive practice. It may include how staff and leaders include children in decision-making, and how staff help children to understand and manage their emotions and behaviour.

Prevention of bullying policy

This policy should explain how staff will respond to incidents of bullying, and any approach that helps to prevent bullying. The policy should also identify how staff will support any victim of bullying, and any alleged perpetrator.

Complaints policy

This policy should explain how:

staff respond to complaints from children and adults
complaints are investigated and how long this takes
people can escalate a complaint if they are not happy with the outcome
children are involved in the complaints process
children can contact someone outside the home if they want to raise a concern, such as the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and Ofsted

Location assessment

Your location assessment must show the steps you have taken to make sure that:

the home is needed locally
the home is in the right place
you promote safe and positive opportunities for children

There is no set format for location assessments. There is guidance on children’s homes regulations to help you think about how to approach the assessment.

We expect you to consider the needs of the children you are proposing to care for when you look at the local area. As with all good risk assessments, the important part is how you intend to minimise those risks.

You will also need to consult relevant local bodies and services, including the police and local authority children’s services, and consider their views. You should ask the local authority what they think about having a new children’s home in the proposed area.

You must show that you understand the environment, community, risks and services available, and that you can protect and promote children’s safety and welfare.

Your location assessment must address the following broad issues:

safeguarding concerns
accessibility and availability of local and specialist services and transport links
whether you will be able to recruit suitable staff in the local area
whether the location of the home will help you meet the needs of the children
whether the location of the home will help promote the children’s independence

The assessment should consider the needs of the children who are expected to live in the home. For example, you should assess whether the location and size of the home:

puts children at risk of exploitation due to local criminal activity
puts children at risk of becoming isolated from their friends and important adults
is close to other children’s homes
is close to environmental hazards such as reservoirs, busy roads or railway lines
is in a neighbourhood where children can flourish
offers accessible, suitable local education, leisure, faith, cultural and health services

Inspectors will ask you for evidence of your contact with the host local authority to see how your location assessment has informed your plans for the home you want to open.

Showing us that the premises are fit for purpose

You must show us that the premises you propose to use are fit for purpose and suitable for those you intend to provide a service for. You must prove that you have assessed and managed any risks associated with the building. You will demonstrate this through a health and safety assessment and risk management plan.

Evidence of financial viability

Unless you are applying from an NHS trust, you must include with your application:

your business plan
your cashflow forecast
your last 2 annual reports and accounts

If you are a type of trust, other than an NHS trust, we will need your latest annual accounts, but you do not have to provide all of the above. Instead, you can provide in writing from the local authority:

assurance that the trust is financially viable
details of how it will review the trusts performance, including its finances

Business plan

As a minimum, the business plan should cover:

background information
a marketing plan
a financial plan
an operational plan

An operational plan must include:

evidence that you have a manager and enough staff for the number of children you initially intend to accommodate
a recruitment plan to support an increase in the number of children you accommodate
dealing with staff turnover
recruiting and training staff to meet children’s changing needs

Cashflow forecast

Your cashflow forecast should estimate the projected monthly income and expenditure for the first 12 months of operation.

Annual reports and accounts

If you are already operating, you must provide up to the last 2 annual reports and accounts. Where applicable, you should include the annual reports for the holding company and any subsidiaries of that holding company.

New companies do not need to submit annual reports or accounts.

If relevant, you should provide a copy of any partnership agreement and any charitable objects as set out by the Charities Commission.

Fees

You must pay a children’s social care registration fee as part of your application. Once you have submitted your application and we have all the documents to process it, we will send you an invoice for the fee. This fee is non-refundable.

You must also pay a registration fee for each application for a registered manager, including if there is a new manager during the application process. This applies to registered managers for both a new and an existing children’s home.

Once your home is registered, you must pay a children’s social care annual fee. Fees are set by the DfE and are reviewed and updated every year.

When you apply for a new registration, we always check whether you owe us fees from any previous registrations. We will consider any outstanding fees when assessing your fitness to practise, your integrity and your financial viability to provide a new children’s home.

Question 5

Recommended document file size and formats

Accepted Answer

You can upload documents in the following formats:

PDF
Microsoft Word (.docx)
Excel (.xlsx)
PowerPoint (.pptx)
image file (.jpeg or .png)
OpenDocument formats for a word processing document (.odt), a spreadsheet (.ods) or a presentation (.odp)

Documents must not be more than 2 MB in size.

If you need to reduce the size of your documents, try to:

reduce the size of images before putting them in a document
remove any unnecessary images
save a Word document to the latest version of Word or as a PDF document
save a PDF document, to the smallest file option

If you are unable to upload any documents with your application due to the format or size, send them via email to sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk. Quote your name and submission reference number. Upload a blank Word page to your application with just the date you emailed the documents to Ofsted and the comment: ‘Document emailed to sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk’.

Question 6

Registration visit and interviews

Accepted Answer

We usually carry out one registration visit for each application and visit all the buildings that are included in the application. During the visit, we assess the premises and the services that the provider intends to offer. We will also interview all those associated with the application. An inspector will contact you to discuss whether any reasonable adjustments are required.

Documents required during the inspector’s visit

Before or during the visit, the inspector will ask for specific documents that were not part of your original application. We ask for these to check whether you are ready to operate. You will only have this information, such as staff member details after we accept your application. We are unlikely to make a decision about your registration without this information. It helps Ofsted judge how well you can care for children and keep them safe.

We will always ask for the following information during the visit. Inspectors will tell you before they visit whether they expect anything else:

your original birth certificate for your identity when you were born
original certified documents relating to each name change you have had since birth
proof of your address and photographic evidence of your identity, such as a driving licence
your qualification documents
the original DBS certificate for the manager and responsible individual

If you have changed your name, Ofsted will want to see a clear audit trail of that change and your original birth certificate.

This is an important part of our safeguarding role. If it will be difficult for you to provide original documents, you must tell us as soon as possible so that we can help you resolve the problem.

Staffing and recruitment

We will look at your staffing list and rota to check that you have enough staff with the right experience and qualifications to look after children from the start of registration. We do not expect a full staff team to be in place, but there must be enough staff for your home to open and be ready to accept your first child.

We will also ask to see some personnel files so we can check your recruitment practice. You must have available all recruitment records for the staff you have recruited before the registration visit, including those of the proposed manager and, where applicable, the responsible individual. If you normally hold these records elsewhere, you must arrange for them to be available at the registration visit.

For more information, see our Children’s homes: recruiting staff guidance.

Training and development

You should have a training and development plan ready that outlines:

staff induction – how new staff are introduced to your home, its policies and their roles
supervision arrangements - how staff will be supported, monitored and guided in their work

Health and safety

You will need to show the inspector your health and safety risk assessment, management plan and arrangements for protection from fire and other emergencies; these must be completed by a suitable person.

You should have all the necessary certificates relating to the premises, for example utility safety certificates, maintenance certificates for equipment (such as lifts and hoists) and insurance certificates available at the visit. We require evidence that the premises comply with:

national and local planning, building and environmental legislation, including disability discrimination requirements, where appropriate
fire regulations, including the requirements of your local fire authority; you must have a suitably trained fire safety officer who has completed a fire risk assessment of the premises and can describe what fire safety procedures will be in place, having consulted an appropriate expert
health and safety regulations, including those related to environmental health

Business development plan

We will look at and discuss your business development plan, including your contingencies for recruitment and managing staff vacancies.

Record-keeping systems and surveillance

You will need to provide examples of any paper-based or electronic systems that you intend to use to record children’s information and experiences. These examples should demonstrate your understanding of regulatory requirements and help explain your approach to caring for children.

You will be asked to provide a copy of your surveillance and use of CCTV policy, where relevant.

Registration visit

The inspector will:

ask whether any reasonable adjustments are required before each interview and visit
visit the children’s home
read and discuss, as necessary, the documents you have provided
interview people in certain roles of responsibility
assess and evaluate all the information we have gathered

After the visit and interviews, the inspector will go over with you:

a summary of the evidence that they have collected
a summary of the proposed conditions of registration
what happens next
whether you need to submit any more information or if further interviews are required

Registration interviews

Interviews and visits may take place on different days, and we will arrange them with each individual concerned. Inspectors will usually interview both the proposed manager and the appointed responsible individual, even if the responsible individual has been interviewed by Ofsted before. We may also interview any directors, as we see fit.

Interviews are an opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills, expertise and knowledge for your role. The interview will draw out your experience and values to see how you will use these to improve outcomes for children and provide them with a suitable and safe place to stay.

Responsible individuals’ interviews

Your interview will cover whether you have:

a good understanding of the role of a responsible individual
a good understanding of safeguarding and child protection
a good understanding of the law and guidance in relation to children’s homes
the skills, knowledge and ability to carry on the children’s home in a way that promotes both good practice and continuous improvement
the business and management skills required to supervise the home
the financial skills and expertise required to ensure long-term financial viability
the capacity to carry out regular evaluation of the quality of care provided

We will explore and assess how you will exercise your responsibilities, for example how you will:

support and challenge the manager and provider to promote best outcomes for children
consult with children and represent their views to the manager and provider
work with the manager to promote the safety of the physical environment and to maintain its high standards
analyse and respond to placement endings and outcomes, paying attention to any placements that end before they were expected to
organise prompt repair of the home and provide access to the home if no one is there and Ofsted wants to enter the premises
be available for Ofsted to discuss Regulation 44 or 45 reports or safeguarding notifications
inform and discuss with Ofsted any referrals made under the ‘Prevent’ duty
be available for feedback on an inspection
inform Ofsted when the manager is going to be absent for more than 28 days or if they leave

Manager interview

When enquiring about your management skills, we explore and assess your experience and skills in:

supervising others who are carrying out a direct care role
managing staff’s performance
safeguarding children and taking appropriate action to protect them
building relationships with children and taking their views into account
setting out and using quality assurance systems to drive improvement
understanding and managing risk
engaging and coordinating with multi-agency resources to help children to thrive
understanding the statement of purpose for the home
meeting the regulations and quality standards for the children’s needs
making arrangements to ensure that residential staff can meet children’s needs

When enquiring about your skills in caring for children, we explore and assess your experience and skills in:

understanding the needs of the children who live in children’s homes
understanding the needs of the children identified in the statement of purpose
understanding the importance of loving and secure relationships for children
child development
understanding attachment and how children are affected by trauma
positive and relationships-based approaches to behaviour support for children
identifying and minimising risk and helping children to make progress

Manager experience

Within the last 5 years, you must have worked for:

at least 2 years in a position relevant to the residential care of children
at least 1 year supervising and managing staff working in a care role

We will consider experience in roles other than residential care. For example, we may consider experience gained as an activity volunteer for children’s charities, and we would accept experience in registered settings that we do not regulate, such as residential special schools or residential further education colleges. We would also consider a local authority social worker who has worked in a children’s team or as a team manager.

We will ask you to explain how your experience is transferable to the role of children’s home manager and how it will enable you to provide and develop a high-quality home that gives children a suitable and safe place to stay.

Question 7

Changes to your application

Accepted Answer

During the registration process, you must tell us straight away if there are changes to any of the details in your application.

If you want to make changes to your application before we have granted registration, you must write to tell us about changes to:

the name or address of the proposed provider, responsible individual or manager
the person who is applying to be the provider, responsible individual or manager
the members of a partnership
a director or any other person who has submitted an SC2 form
the conditions that you are applying to register

If these changes involve a new person in one of the above roles, they will need to fill in an SC2 form. If your application has already progressed to stage 3, it will go back to stage 2 until we have received the new forms. In these cases, we will hold the application at stage 2 for 12 weeks from the point when the initial applicant withdrew to give you time to find a replacement. After this, we may return your application to you because we are unable to make a decision on it if there are no suitable applicants to consider. This will not affect any future applications that you make.

Question 8

What happens next

Accepted Answer

When you apply to register a children’s home, you will get a submission reference number. This is 14 characters and includes numbers, hyphens and uppercase letters, for example ABCD-1234-1234. This reference number will be on the email sent to you, confirming that your application has been accepted.

All managers, responsible individuals, directors or partners linked to the children’s home must tell Ofsted about themselves separately by completing an SC2 form. You will need to provide them with your submission reference number so they can complete their application forms. Your application to register a children’s home is not complete until all application forms are completed. We will get in touch if we have any questions.

Question 9

Questions about your application

Accepted Answer

We know that your application is very important to you, and sometimes you want to speak to us to ask for an update. Once we have sent your application to our regional team, we allocate an inspector to your application. They will contact you and let you know how to contact them.

If you have questions and are unable to find the answers in our children’s home guidance for applicants at the start of your application, contact sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk. Use ‘Social care application’ as the subject line of your email and include your full name and reference number so we can contact you.

You are responsible for supplying us with full, correct and suitable information to support your application.

It is an offence under the Care Standards Act 2000 to provide a false or misleading statement in an application.

Question 10

Priority applications

Accepted Answer

We will prioritise applications to register children’s homes that are needed urgently because local authorities require:

an emergency placement for a named child or children
local provision to meet an identified urgent sufficiency need

We will continue to consider all applications, but will consider provision that meets the priority categories sooner.

See our guidance on Registering children’s homes in an emergency: priority applications for more information and the full criteria for when we will prioritise an application.