Report a serious incident in a voluntary adoption agency
Tell Ofsted about a serious incident in a voluntary adoption agency.
Applies to England
Do not use the serious incident form to send updates about an incident you have already reported. Read more about sending updates.
What incidents to report
Voluntary adoption agencies must report the following incidents (sometimes called incident ‘notifications’ or ‘events’) to Ofsted:
- the death of a child placed for adoption by the agency
- referral to the Secretary of State of an individual working for the agency under the Protection of Children Act 1999
- a child placed for adoption has a serious illness or accident
- any serious complaint about a prospective adopter approved by the agency
- a child protection enquiry involving a child placed for adoption has started or finished
When you must report an incident
You should report the death of a child immediately.
All other incident reports should be made without delay and, where possible, within 24 hours. In situations where you need to gather further information, we recognise this may take more than 24 hours.
Report an incident
The serious incident reporting form will ask you for the following:
- your unique reference number (URN) (you can find your URN on your registration, your inspection reports and on your Ofsted reports page)
- the type of incident
- your contact details and the details for your service, relevant members of staff and adopters
- when and where the incident happened
- details of any child involved and the initials of all staff involved
- the registered person’s evaluation of the incident and actions taken
- if you have informed any other relevant people or organisations such as the Secretary of State, the placing authority or relevant local authority
To alert Ofsted in urgent situations, particularly if there is a lot of press interest, call 0300 123 1231.
Report an incident in a different children’s social care service
Death of a child
You must use the serious incident reporting form to report the death of a child to Ofsted without delay.
The reporting form will ask you to provide details of the incident. You should include:
- a brief summary of the incident
- the cause of death, including the date of diagnosis or time of the incident that led to death (if known)
- any treatment the child has received and details of the hospital the child has been admitted to (if any)
- any ongoing investigation or process by another agency
- actions taken by adopters, staff and managers at the time
Safeguarding referrals
You can use the serious incident reporting form if you have reported someone to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) as unfit to work with children or vulnerable adults.
The legislation for voluntary adoption agencies has not been updated to reflect the changes to the Protection of Children Act 1999, however, voluntary adoption agencies can report if someone working there has been referred to the Secretary of State under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.
Telling Ofsted about safeguarding referrals
The reporting form will ask you to provide details of the incident. You should include:
- a brief summary of the incident, how and why it happened
- the date of referral
- the role of the person referred
- the reason for referral
- the date and reference number of any previous notification to Ofsted relating to this person
- actions taken by staff and managers at the time and planned prevention measures
Report a safeguarding referral
Serious illness or serious accident
Voluntary adoption agencies need to report serious illnesses or accidents that result in a child being injured.
A serious illness or injury usually means that a child needs medical treatment (other than basic first aid) at home or in a hospital.
Do not send a serious incident report to Ofsted:
- for minor accidents or illnesses that require no treatment or only basic first aid
- if a child is taken to hospital but they do not receive any treatment there
Telling Ofsted about a serious illness or serious accident
The reporting form will ask you to provide details of the incident. You should include:
- a brief summary of the incident (if known)
- the cause of injury (if known)
- any treatment the child has received and details of the hospital the child has been admitted to (if any)
- prevention measures
- actions taken by adopters, staff and managers at the time
Report a serious illness or serious accident
Serious complaint about an adopter
You must report any serious complaint against a prospective adopter that you have approved, if:
- your agency has placed a child with them
- your agency has not placed a child with them
- another agency has placed a child with them
Telling Ofsted about serious complaints about an adopter
The reporting form will ask you to provide details of the incident. You should include:
- a summary of the complaint
- actions taken by staff and managers at the time and planned prevention measures
- details of any plan to review the adopter’s continued suitability to adopt
Start or conclusion of a child protection enquiry
You must send one serious incident report when a child protection enquiry has started (‘instigated’) and another report when it has finished (‘concluded’).
Do not use the reporting form to send any other updates about an enquiry to us, you only need to report the start and conclusion. If you have already reported a child protection enquiry but you want to provide an update, you can do this by sending an email to your allocated inspector.
Telling Ofsted about the start or conclusion of a child protection enquiry
The reporting form will ask you to provide details of the incident. You should include:
- a brief summary of the event that led to the start of the enquiry, including the date and time
- actions taken by adopters, staff and managers at the time
- planned prevention measures (if known)
If you’re reporting that an enquiry has finished, you need to include:
- the date that you reported the start of the enquiry
- the outcome of the enquiry
- your notification reference number
- actions taken by staff and managers in response to the enquiry
Report the start or conclusion of a child protection enquiry