Monitoring Quality

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the supported accommodation setting at least once in each calendar year. This review should include a full risk assessment, taking into account risks and opportunities presented by the setting’s location, and including any relevant risk mitigation strategies and actions taken to reduce potential risks as well as the views and experiences of young people.

See also Location and Design of Properties.

The review of the quality of support provided within the Service will be carried out by:

• A process of regular monitoring of the activities within the Service; and
• A Quality of Support Review at least once every six months.

Regular Monitoring

Leaders and managers actively and regularly monitor the quality of support provided. They use learning from practice and feedback to improve the experiences of young people, including direct testimony from young people, parents if appropriate, staff, other professionals and other stakeholders. They learn from complaints, staff feedback, placement successes and breakdowns, and any serious events. They identify strengths and areas for improvement and implement clear development plans that continually improve the experiences of young people.

The registered person should actively scrutinise the settings and make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. The registered person should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns and they are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice.

Quality of Support Review

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review ('a quality of support review') at least once every six months, which must take into account:

1. The views of young people, including any feedback and complaints received;
2.  Feedback from individual young people on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the young person’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the young person felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the  young person feels for transition out of supported accommodation;
3. Feedback from each young person’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;
4. Any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of young people are best met.

The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of support provided by the Service and the experiences of young people living in the each of the provider’s settings, looking at the impact the support is having on outcomes and improvements for the young people. 

The processes the registered person puts in place to enable such a review to take place should allow for a report to be generated at least once every six months, setting out the actions the registered person intends to take as a result of that quality of support review.

The registered person must send this report within 28 days of completion (beginning with the day on which the report is completed) to Ofsted and the accommodating authority of all young people in the Service who are looked after children or care leavers. The registered person must make a copy of it available on request to each young person’s accommodating authority.

The review must be robust and must consider feedback and evidence from all settings under the provider’s registration. 

The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the Service at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the young people in the Service, considering any settings that are designed or tailored to support a cohort with specific needs. The registered person will also consider what information or data recorded in the settings will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the Service against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – the registered person should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. 

The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the Service’s support, which will be captured in the written report, which must be submitted to Ofsted. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the Service, including any specific actions to individual settings if appropriate, and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement of the Service.

Health and Safety Requirements Monitoring

The Health and Safety Lead as well as the housing team (if the Service has one) will make sure that all repairs are monitored and recorded and all quality checks will be completed and meet all standards required. Please also see Health and Safety Procedure and the First Aid and Accidents.