The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023

Statement of purpose

9.—(1) The registered person must compile a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the following matters in respect of the supported accommodation undertaking—

(a) its purpose, including its ethos, core aims and function;

(b) the category or categories of supported accommodation it offers;

(c) the services it provides for children it accommodates and supports;

(d) the characteristics of the children for whom it is intended the supported accommodation undertaking will provide accommodation and support, including the age range, number and sex of the children;

(e) the facilities it provides to the children it accommodates;

(f) a description of the accommodation it provides, including how the accommodation meets the accommodation standard (see regulation 6), how the accommodation might be adapted to meet the individual needs of children it accommodates and the security arrangements in place;

(g) the address of the registered provider’s principal office, except where this is the same address as where the children are accommodated;

(h) the organisational structure, including management structure and staffing arrangements;

(i) how it ensures that the child’s rights and views are at the centre of the support, service delivery and planning;

(j) the arrangements in place to ensure a child is fully aware of their entitlements throughout the duration of their placement in supported accommodation;

(k) the positive outcomes the service seeks to achieve for children and its approach to achieving those outcomes;

(l) the arrangements in place to support the development of children’s independent living skills, in line with their identified individual needs;

(m) the arrangements in place to promote children’s involvement and progress in education, training or employment;

(n) the arrangements for and policies on protecting and promoting the mental and physical health needs of children, including medication handling, recording and safekeeping;

(o) anti-discriminatory practices in respect of children and their families;

(p) how it supports the cultural, linguistic and religious needs of children;

(q) details of who to contact if a person has a complaint and how that person can access the complaints procedure (see regulation 31);

(r) details of how a person involved in the support or protection of a child can access the supported accommodation undertaking’s child protection policies.

(2) The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to the CIECSS and make a copy of it available on request to—

(a) a member of staff of the supported accommodation undertaking;

(b) a child, or a child for whom supported accommodation provided by the supported accommodation undertaking is being considered;

(c) a parent(1) of a child, or a parent of a child for whom supported accommodation provided by the supported accommodation undertaking is being considered;

(d) a child’s accommodating authority.

(3) The registered person must—

(a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it, and

(b) notify the CIECSS of any revisions and send the CIECSS a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

(4) Subject to paragraph (5), the registered person must ensure that the supported accommodation undertaking is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose.

(5) Nothing in paragraph (4) requires or authorises the registered person to contravene or not comply with—

(a) any other provision of these Regulations, or

(b) any conditions in relation to the registration of the registered person under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000.

(1)

Section 121 of the Care Standards Act 2000 defines “parent”, in relation to a child, as including any person who is not a parent of the child but who has parental responsibility for the child, and “parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section 3).