Guidance

Connect to a supported accommodation service (SC2)

Apply to connect people to a supported accommodation service.

From:
Ofsted
Published
4 April 2023
Last updated
14 June 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

Introduction

If you want to connect to a supported accommodation service, you must complete a ‘Connect to a children’s social service SC2 form’. This form is the same form for all types of children’s social care.

This guidance explains how to complete the form as someone connecting to a supported accommodation service. It also explains who needs to fill in this form, as this depends on your role and when you are applying to connect to the service.

Who needs to fill in the form

The following people need to submit an SC2 form:

  1. Everyone with a ‘role of responsibility’ in the service. These are listed in form SC1, ‘register a children’s social care service’. If you are on this list, we will contact you. In this situation, find out which roles need to complete the SC2 form
  2. The proposed service manager or a new partner joining a service or a new nominated individual that is already registered. They must complete form SC2 as soon as they know they are joining, even if they have not started yet

Information you will need to provide

We will ask for information about the service you want to register with us, and for personal and professional information about you.

The registration form consists of the following sections:

  • about your social care service
  • your role
  • eligibility to work with children
  • suitability to work with children
  • previous applications you or your organisation has made (including refused and withdrawn applications)
  • previous registrations (including cancelled registrations)
  • your personal details
  • your financial history (if you are applying to be a nominated individual, or are a partner or owner of your service)
  • your financial interests
  • your business interests
  • your skills and experience
  • your employment history
  • details of your referees

The form will ask you for a lot of information. If you do not have all the information to hand, you can save the form and return to it later.

Unique reference number

If the service you are connecting to is already registered with Ofsted, we will need its unique reference number (URN). We also need the URN of:

  • the last service you applied to be connected to
  • any service we refused an application for
  • any service you withdrew an application for
  • any service whose registration we, or another public authority, cancelled

This is so we can check our records for information we may already hold about you and any services you have previously been connected with.

Your employment history

You must provide details of all your employment history since leaving school or full-time education. You need to include the name of all your employer(s) and the dates of employment as far as you can remember. If you returned to full time education since leaving school, record this as well. If you have gaps in your employment, you will need to explain them.

Your referees

You must provide the details of 2 referees who can give professional references about you.

Your first referee must be your most recent employer. This referee must be a senior officer of an organisation, for example the owner, director or an HR manager. If you have been employed by them for less than 3 months, we will ask for permission to approach a previous employer who has employed you for more than 3 months for an additional reference.

Your second referee must be someone who knows you in a professional capacity and must be able to comment on your work. This second referee should be someone in a different organisation to your first referee.

Both referees must be able to comment on:

  • your honesty and integrity
  • your ability to safeguard and protect children and, where applicable, vulnerable adults
  • your leadership and management skills
  • your knowledge and understanding of the particular type of service you are applying to register for

Your most recent employer referee must also be able to comment on:

  • any disciplinary processes you have been subject to
  • your financial management skills

Neither referee can be a relative or live at the same address as you.

Documents you will need

In the application form, you will need to upload the following documents:

Disclosure and Barring Service certificate

The following people must upload a valid Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate:

  • the person applying to be registered service manager
  • individual providers and partners
  • nominated individuals
  • directors of organisations who are involved in running the supported accommodation service

We consider individuals in the above roles to be engaged in ‘regulated activity’ (see the Eligibility guidance for enhanced DBS checks) and will require an Enhanced with Barred List(s) DBS check.

Before submitting your application, you must have either:

  • applied for a DBS check through the Ofsted Capita service and received your certificate dated within the last 3 months
  • an enhanced DBS check through another organisation, and a subscription to the DBS update service

In the form we will ask you to agree to let us check your DBS status. You must agree in order to continue with your application. We also strongly recommend that you subscribe to the DBS update service.

If you have previously applied for a DBS check through Ofsted, contact us to check that we will still accept it as current.

If you have lived abroad in the past 5 years and you are unable to provide a DBS certificate, you must contact us. We will discuss alternative evidence to demonstrate your fitness. Your application will not proceed without this discussion.

The name on the DBS must match the name you give on the SC2 form.

Health declaration form

You must complete a health declaration form if you are in any of the following roles:

  • the nominated individual
  • the service manager
  • a partner in a partnership
  • a sole or joint owner of an individual provider

This form contains questions about your current and past health so that we can determine your mental and physical suitability to provide or manage a service. Please complete the form and email it to SC.suppacc@ofsted.gov.uk when you submit your application.

Suitability questionnaire

If you are applying to be a registered service manager, individual provider or partner, or nominated individual, once we have accepted your application we will send you a questionnaire to complete and tell you how you can return this to us.

Uploading the required documents

These documents cannot be more than 2mb in size.

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

  • reduce size of images before putting them in a document
  • remove any unnecessary images
  • if a Word document, save it as the latest version of Word or save it as a PDF
  • if a PDF document, save it as lowest file size

You can upload documents as:

  • PDF
  • Microsoft Word (docx)
  • Excel (xlsx)
  • PowerPoint (pptx)
  • jpeg
  • png
  • odt
  • ods
  • odp

Apply now

Make sure you have read our guidance on connecting to a supported accommodation service before you start.

To apply, you will need a Government Gateway account. You can create a new Government Gateway account or sign into your existing one. Find out more about a Government Gateway account.

Connect to a supported accommodation service

The next steps

You can find out more about the next steps and timescales in our guidance on connecting to a supported accommodation service. Service managers will need to pay a registration fee as part of the process.

Help

If you need help with a query that is not covered in this guide or you do not understand what you need to do in your circumstances, please contact us.

If you need help with your application, please email SC.suppacc@ofsted.gov.uk

If you need an accessible version of the form, please email sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk

Complaints

The great majority of our work is carried out smoothly and without incident. If concerns arise during registration, these should be raised with the inspector, their manager or the applications team as soon as possible. This provides an opportunity to resolve the matter before the registration is completed.

If it has not been possible to resolve concerns in this way, you can raise a formal complaint through our complaints procedure.

Contact us

You can get in touch at:

Regulations

Legislation

Regulations for all providers

 

Updates to this page

Published 4 April 2023
Last updated 14 June 2023 + show all updates

  1. Updated information about DBS checks required by supported accommodation applicants.

  2. Link to the online registration form added.

  3. First published.

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