At least five vulnerable Bristol children unlawfully placed in unregistered care homes

At least five vulnerable Bristol children have been unlawfully placed in unregistered care homes by Bristol City Council.

Unregistered children’s homes are not inspected by Ofsted despite looking after vulnerable children.

Councils placing children in unregistered homes is against the law, due to concerns about a lack of oversight. But the practice still happens in Bristol, with between five and eight children placed in unregistered homes, according to a council risk report.

Children’s homes legally must register with Ofsted. But unregistered homes are still being used because of the rising numbers of children needing care combined with a lack of placements, council bosses said during a cabinet meeting.

Labour Councillor Asher Craig, deputy mayor responsible for education, said: “I know that staff work tirelessly to try and find registered placements. In some cases, for some of those children who are in unregistered placements, the provider is actually currently going through registration. So hopefully that breaks the back on that.

“But it’s a problem that the whole country is facing, in terms of unregistered provision. We really need to find a way through because the demand is increasing and the costs are getting higher.”

Ofsted inspected Bristol City Council’s children’s services department in January this year, and found problems with the use of unregistered children’s homes. An inspection report published in March said the council did not have enough oversight over these homes.

Inspectors said: “The oversight of these arrangements is not rigorous enough. This means that the local authority cannot be sufficiently reassured about how effectively the needs of these vulnerable children are met. Arrangements to visit and to quality assure and check the care that children are receiving are not strong enough.”

But the problem is not just confined to Bristol. Ofsted also issued a national warning against councils using unregistered children’s homes, with one boss saying the practice was “unacceptable”.

Earlier this summer, Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s director for social care, said: “It’s unacceptable that some of our most vulnerable children with very complex needs are living in places with the least oversight, where we do not know if they are safe, or if the people caring for them are suitable or skilled enough to meet their needs.

“We know that many children deprived of their liberty are placed in illegal unregistered settings. It is important that providers register and local authorities play their part to ensure vulnerable children are only placed in registered settings.”