We were instructed by a company whose application for registration as a provider of a children’s home had been refused. Ofsted relied on alleged breaches of Regulation 13 (The leadership and management standard), Regulation 28 (Fitness of manager) and Regulation 32 (Fitness of workers). The application of the proposed manager had also been refused.

Ofsted had failed to serve the Notices of Proposal to Refuse the Applications properly, and their content was demonstrably wrong and misleading in significant respects. We put in an initial written submission asking Ofsted to withdraw the Notices citing a range of procedural and evidential grounds.

Ofsted accepted the two Notices had not been served properly and were, therefore, invalid. It also accepted that aspects of the Notices were factually incorrect. Ofsted agreed to carry out a further pre-registration site visit to obtain up-to-date and accurate information about the suitability of the applicants to be registered. A different Social Care Regulatory Inspector was assigned to complete the visit.

The second site visit went very well, and the registrations of the provider and manager were approved.

About the Author

Neil Grant

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