Reporting changes to a supported accommodation service
What providers need to know before reporting changes to Ofsted.
Applies to England
Introduction
As a registered provider of a supported accommodation service, you must continue to meet any relevant regulations and conditions of your registration.
This includes telling Ofsted in writing about certain changes, or applying to make changes where necessary.
How you tell us about the change depends on what the change is. You can contact us by email at SC.suppacc@ofsted.gov.uk or by completing a ‘Report changes to your children’s social care service (SC3) form’.
People in your service
People leaving or joining
You must tell us if any of the following people join or leave your service:
- nominated individual
- directors
- partners in a partnership
- an individual provider , if there is more than one individual
- registered service manager
For all the roles, except the registered service manager, you must use the SC3 form to let us know about these changes.
We can only accept the form from people who are registered with us or known to us as they are connected to the service.
New partners, individual providers and and nominated individuals will also need to complete a ‘Connect to a children’s social care service (SC2)’ form.
If we have concerns about any of the new joiners, we will raise them with you. If these concerns are serious and we feel that you have not addressed them appropriately, we may take further action, including a case review. For more information, read our enforcement policy.
Nominated individual
Use the SC3 form to tell us that a nominated individual is leaving and about the new nominated individual. We will send you a new registration certificate with the new person’s name.
We will also send a letter to ask what checks you have done to make sure they are suitable for the role. You must respond within 10 working days. If we do not receive the information within 10 working days, we will hold a case review to decide whether to take further action.
Once we have received your response, an inspector decides whether to interview the nominated individual.
Directors
Use the SC3 form to tell us about directors leaving and new ones joining.
If you have told us about a new director, we will review this information and may contact you or discuss this at your next inspection to review how you have made sure that the new director meets the regulatory requirements. You must provide inspectors with evidence requested. If you fail to provide this evidence, inspectors will take it into account when making inspection judgements.
Partners
Use the SC3 form to tell us if a partner is leaving or joining. A new partner must complete an SC2 form too. We will then carry out checks and interviews. If the new partner is suitable, we will register them.
Individual provider
If the provider is a group of individuals and one of those individuals leaves or joins, you must let us know through the SC3 form.
If you are leaving as a sole individual provider, you must apply to cancel your registration. If you are selling your service, or another company is taking it over, read our guidance on selling a service. You cannot use the SC3 form to tell us you, as the sole owner, are leaving the service.
Registered service manager
If the registered service manager is leaving permanently, they must apply to voluntarily cancel their registration. You cannot use the SC3 form to tell us your registered service manager is leaving permanently, or that a new one has joined.
There should be no gap between your old and new service manager. We expect you to take all reasonable steps to find a new service manager, including:
- making sure the position is advertised with a clear closing date
- making sure interview dates are set
- updating and posting a job specification with the job advertisement
New service manager
When you appoint a new service manager you must email us to let us know. The proposed new service manager will need to complete an SC2 form. They will need to pay a registration fee. We will assess their suitability and fitness to manage a supported accommodation service. If they meet the regulatory requirements for the role, we will register them.
Gaps between old and new service managers
If there is a delay in proposing a new service manager, you must contact us immediately and explain the reasons why. You must also set out how the service is being suitably managed in the interim period. This includes appointing an interim service manager who takes on the duties of the role.
You must also follow our guidance in interim service managers.
Registered service manager absence
You must use the SC3 form to tell us if your registered service manager will be away for 28 days or more.
You must give us at least 1 month’s notice of this absence. If the absence is due to an emergency or other unforeseen circumstances, you must notify us within 1 week of the absence starting.
In the SC3 form you will be asked how you will cover this absence, including details of the temporary manager. This temporary manager will be called your interim service manager.
You must also follow our guidance on interim service managers.
Interim service manager
You need to appoint an interim service manager if:
- there is a gap between a service manager leaving and a new one joining
- your registered service manager will be away for more than 28 days
An interim service manager should be in place for the shortest time possible. We will continue to assess whether the arrangements are effective based on the information we hold and receive, including from notifications.
We expect you to make sure that the interim service manager fully protects and promotes children’s safety and welfare. You must also regularly monitor the performance of the interim service manager, to make sure they are effective.
We will monitor any services that do not have a registered service manager. If we are concerned about an interim service manager’s ability to manage the service, we may carry out a monitoring visit or require them to apply for registration so that we can fully assess their suitability. If the lack of registered manager has a negative effect on the children, or results in disruption to the service, this will affect any inspection judgements.
If the interim service manager is expected to be in this role for 90 days or more, they must complete an SC2 form to apply to connect and register. If we do not receive an SC2 form within 90 days of the interim arrangements starting, we may take enforcement action.
Name changes
If the name of anyone in these roles changes, then you must email us to let us know.
Your premises
Opening premises or adding hosts
If you are opening new premises under a category that you are already registered for, including arranging accommodation with a new host in a private residence such as supported lodgings, you must use the SC3 form to tell us. You must do this within 72 hours of opening the new premises.
Closing a premises or removing accommodation from your provision
You must use the SC3 form to tell us if you are closing a premises (temporarily or permanently), or if you are removing accommodation that is provided in private residences, such as supported lodgings. You must submit the form within 10 working days of deciding to close the premises.
Applying to offer a new category of supported accommodation
If you wish to provide a new category of supported accommodation, you must apply to vary your conditions of registration. You cannot provide a category of supported accommodation unless you have been registered to do so and it appears as a condition on your registration certificate.
To do this you will need to:
- email SC.suppacc@ofsted.gov.uk with a brief summary of the changes
- complete the form that we send you
- pay a fee, if applicable
An inspector may contact you to discuss the variation once we have received the form and the fee.
You must be able to show that you have considered the impact of the proposed changes, for example that you have sufficient staff and appropriate accommodation to provide a different category of accommodation.
If your organisation is a registered charity, you must demonstrate that you continue to operate in line with your charitable objectives.
An inspector will decide whether to grant or refuse your application, based on the evidence they have gathered about it, and will write to you with their decision. They may visit before making their final decision.
If we refuse your application, you have the right to make written representations and appeal against our decision. Read the social care enforcement policy for further information.
You cannot accommodate children under a different category of registration until we have agreed your application.
Your statement of purpose
Your service must have, and maintain, a statement of purpose that accurately describes the service provided at any given time.
It is a breach of the regulations to operate your service in a way that is not consistent with your statement of purpose. If you change your statement of purpose, you must let us know and send us a copy of the revised statement to enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You must do this within 28 days of making the change.
Changes to your financial situation
Companies
You must email to tell us if a liquidator or a provisional liquidator, a manager or a receiver is appointed.
Individual providers
You must email to tell us if a trustee in bankruptcy is appointed, or you make a composition or arrangement with any creditors.
Changes of legal entity
If you change your legal entity, you will need to re-register your service. This means you will need to complete a new ‘Register a children’s social care service (SC1) form’ for each service you run.
People with a role of responsibility in the service will need to complete an SC2 form. This also means you need to pay a registration fee for each service. This is because a new legal entity needs new registration.
Examples of a change in legal entity include:
- an individual provider registers their business as a company with Companies House
- an organisation becomes a partnership
- a company changes its company number
If the change in legal identity is due to buying, selling or taking over an existing service, read the guidance about taking over a service.
Taking over an existing service (including buying a franchise)
If you are buying, acquiring or taking over a service, you will need (in most cases) to register the service and become the new provider. You may not need to register if you are taking over a company and running it under its existing name.
If you are buying a franchise, you as the new provider must register the service, in most cases. This will depend on the specifics of your franchise agreement.
You will need to register by completing an SC1 form for the service and people with certain roles of responsibility each complete an SC2 form. You will also need to pay registration fees.
As the new provider of this service:
- you cannot take on responsibility for the service until we confirm your registration
- if the existing service has uncompleted statutory requirements, you must provide an action plan that shows how and when you will meet those requirements
- the seller remains responsible for the service until they apply to voluntarily cancel their registration in writing and we have granted this. If continuity of care for children is an issue, the seller cannot voluntarily cancel their registration until the new registration takes effect (according to the date on the certificate)
We may not need to carry out a full assessment of the premises or the manager. This will depend on the individual circumstances of your situation and the amount of information we hold about you and the services that you run.
If you are selling your service, or a different company or owner is taking it over for another reason, you need to voluntarily cancel your registration at the same time as the new owner completes the registration process.
Taking over multiple services
If you are buying, acquiring or taking over multiple services from one provider, you do not always need to complete registration forms for each one. We will decide what level of checks we need to do, depending on the situation. You should contact us to establish what you need to do.
Acquiring a company and running it under the existing company name
If you are acquiring a company that already runs a registered service, you may not need to register the service again.
If you choose to run the service under the original company’s name and company number, then you do not need to re-register the company. Instead, you just need to tell us about any changes to the people in that service.
Setting up a new service not previously registered
You can open new premises or apply to change your conditions to offer a new category under your existing registered service.
However, you can choose to set up new premises or categories as a new service if you want to. If you do choose to set it up as a new service, you will need to register it using the SC1 form and the relevant SC2 forms.
We do not need annual accounts, a business plan or a financial reference if you have supplied these in the last 12 months. We take account of any change to the service and the service it provides when deciding to request new checks.
Selling or closing your service
If you are selling your service, or someone else is taking it over, you will need to voluntarily cancel your registration. This will allow the new provider to register as the new owner.
If you want to close your service down completely and permanently, read our guidance on closing your service.
Changing office or contact details
Registered providers sometimes change their name or address. Unless this change is because you have changed legal entity, we do not need a new application. If your address or principal office changes, you should confirm the details to us by email to SC.suppacc@ofsted.gov.uk
If the contact details of the nominated individual or named contact change, you must let us know.
Variation fees
If you need to apply for a variation to change the conditions of your registration, you will need to pay a variation fee.
A major variation (for example, a change which requires a site visit) will cost £910. A minor variation will cost £176.
Who can tell us about these changes
The registered person must notify us about these changes, using the SC3 form. This can be the provider, the nominated person in an organisation, or the registered service manager.
The exception to this is if one of the above has been convicted of an offence. In that case, only the person convicted of the offence can tell us.
Using the SC3 form
You can find guidance on using the SC3 form, including what to expect and a link to the form.
Contact us
If you need to email us with details about your changes, please contact SC.suppacc@ofsted.gov.uk. If you are sending us a revised statement of purpose, please contact enquiries@ofsted.gov.uke
Further supported accommodation guidance
Find further guidance and information on supported accommodation including, connecting to a service, making changes to your service, reporting serious incidents and closing a service.