Every child in care should have a stable loving home and deserves a say about where they live and what it’s like. They should have access to advocates who can help them with this – but this is not always the case.
Since April 2023, the Children’s Commissioner has been broadening children’s access to advocacy for children living in homes that have received a provisional rating of Inadequate from Ofsted, ensuring they are happy and their needs are met.
This work is in addition to the daily work of the Commissioner’s Help at Hand advocacy and advice service. You can see some examples of the impact of this work here.
Our expectation is that over the past 18 months, this work will have created a habitual referral for advocacy for these children by local authorities, without needing to be prompted by the Children’s Commissioner or her office. We will keep this work under review and of course continue to provide advocacy to any child that needs it.
We are pleased that Ofsted will continue to champion this right to advocacy with local authorities and will be asking Ofsted for data on children’s homes ratings each month so that we continue to monitor whether children are living in appropriate and safe conditions.
