The Department for Education is addressing the growing use of unregistered children's homes and alternative provision settings, which lack Ofsted inspection and formal safeguarding checks despite being illegal to operate. Numbers of children placed in unregistered accommodation have risen sharply from 147 in 2020–21 to 982 in 2023–24, creating significant child safety risks including vulnerability to exploitation and criminal activity. The policy seeks to strengthen protections, improve local authority accountability, and ensure all children in residential care receive adequate oversight and quality assurance.
Seeking views on the introduction of new national standards and a quality assurance framework for unregistered alternative provision.
Seeking views on the introduction of new national standards and a quality assurance framework for unregistered alternative provision.
Seeking views on the introduction of new national standards and a quality assurance framework for unregistered alternative provision.
We are seeking views to better understand how unregistered alternative provision is commissioned and delivered.
We are seeking views on new regulations for keeping school registers and draft thresholds for legal interventions to improve consistency across England.
We are seeking views to better understand how unregistered alternative provision is commissioned and delivered.
We are seeking views on new regulations for keeping school registers and draft thresholds for legal interventions to improve consistency across England.
We are seeking views to better understand how unregistered alternative provision is commissioned and delivered.
We are seeking views on new regulations for keeping school registers and draft thresholds for legal interventions to improve consistency across England.
We are seeking views on providing motor vehicle cover to academy trusts and local authority-maintained schools through the risk protection arrangement (RPA).
We're seeking views on changes to registration requirements for independent educational settings, and changes to independent schools legislation.
We are seeking views on providing motor vehicle cover to academy trusts and local authority-maintained schools through the risk protection arrangement (RPA).
We are seeking views on providing motor vehicle cover to academy trusts and local authority-maintained schools through the risk protection arrangement (RPA).
We're seeking views on changes to registration requirements for independent educational settings, and changes to independent schools legislation.
We're seeking views on changes to registration requirements for independent educational settings, and changes to independent schools legislation.
We're seeking views on possible new guidance on the use of restraint and restrictive intervention in a range of mainstream settings and alternative provision.
We're seeking views on possible new guidance on the use of restraint and restrictive intervention in a range of mainstream settings and alternative provision.
The government's response to the Education Select Committee’s fifth report of session 2017 to 2019 on alternative provision.
We're seeking views on a proposed system for registering and inspecting out-of-school education settings.
Setting out the government’s vision for alternative provision (AP) and outlining reforms to raise standards and improve outcomes for all children in AP.
We're seeking views on planned changes to statutory guidance for local-authority-maintained-schools, academies and pupil referral units.
We're seeking views on planned changes to statutory guidance for local-authority-maintained-schools, academies and pupil referral units.
We're seeking views on planned changes to statutory guidance for local-authority-maintained-schools, academies and pupil referral units.
We're seeking views on a proposed system for registering and inspecting out-of-school education settings.
We're seeking views on a proposed system for registering and inspecting out-of-school education settings.
What the government is doing to create more effective and diverse alternative provision.