Voluntary adoption agencies registration policy

Question 1

Providing adoption services in England and Wales

Accepted Answer

If you intend to provide adoption services in both England and Wales, you may also need to register with the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), regardless of where your office or branches are located. You may need to follow the regulatory framework under both the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA) and the Care Standards Act 2000 (Registration)(England) Regulations 2010.

Read about how Ofsted works with CIW.

Question 2

Voluntary adoption agencies

Accepted Answer

Adoption is a way of providing a family for children who cannot be brought up by their own parents. It is a legal process through which all parental responsibility is transferred to the adopters. Voluntary adoption agencies provide adoption services to children, adopters, adopted adults and birth family members. They must operate on a not-for-profit basis.

An adoption agency can:

recruit, assess, prepare and approve adopters
make adoption placements for children
match children with adopters who can best meet their assessed needs
support children in adoptive placements
support adoptive parents to provide a stable and permanent home
provide support to birth parents and birth families

We do not register individual adopters. Instead, we register adoption organisations that approve adopters.

Question 3

Starting a voluntary adoption agency

Accepted Answer

To register a voluntary adoption agency, applicants must complete a Register a children’s social care service (SC1) form for the principal office of the adoption agency for each service they want to run. The SC1 form is about the provider and the service.

To find out more about adoption and the law that applies to it, visit the Adoption, fostering and surrogacy page.

When applying to register, you must take account of the following:

the legal framework as set out in the Voluntary Adoption Agencies and the Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2003
the rules on how to operate adoption agencies as set out in the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005
the official guidance provided in the Adoption: national minimum standards

Early permanence services

As an adoption provider, you have to register as an independent fostering agency if you are going to offer foster-to-adopt services (also known as early permanence or concurrent planning).

These placements enable children to live with foster carers who later go on to adopt them if the court decides that is in the children’s best interests.

To find out more information, you can read our guidance on independent fostering agencies.

Question 4

Registering branches

Accepted Answer

Voluntary adoption agencies have a principal office. As a provider, you may also provide services at other offices or locations. These are branches that form part of the same registration and are listed on the same certificate.

You will need to add details to your SC1 form to inform Ofsted of any branches linked to the principal office.

You must appoint a manager for each branch. Ofsted does not register the manager of a voluntary adoption agency, but, as the registered provider, you must notify Ofsted of the name of the person who is managing the service. Branches of a voluntary adoption agency are inspected as part of the inspection of the principal office.

Registration of local authority fostering services in an alternative delivery model

Some local authorities choose, or are required by the Secretary of State, to deliver their services through an alternative delivery model (for example, a trust or a not-for-profit organisation). This is a separate legal entity from the local authority. In these circumstances, where a trust delivers adoption functions, they may be required to register as a voluntary adoption agency. This is irrespective of any links the trust has with a regional adoption agency.

Regional adoption agencies

Regional adoption agencies are not a legal entity; they are the coming together of local authorities in joint arrangements to discharge various prescribed, limited adoption functions.

Where a regional adoption agency has taken the decision to extend their functions and deliver services as a voluntary adoption agency, this service will be required to register with Ofsted. Those regional adoption agencies that are not delivering services in this way are not usually required to register with Ofsted.

If you are unsure whether the service you plan to offer requires registration, you should email sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk.

Question 5

Who Ofsted needs to know about

Accepted Answer

Ofsted needs to know about everyone in a role of responsibility for what we call ‘managing or carrying on the adoption agency’.

This covers:

an individual, partnership or organisation that is registered with Ofsted (the ‘provider’)
a ‘responsible individual’ if the provider is registering as an organisation. This is someone who has the skills necessary to carry on the voluntary adoption agency and is the point of contact for the organisation

These people will need to submit an Apply to be associated with a children’s social care service (SC2) form as part of the application to register.

Ofsted must be satisfied that those in a role of responsibility meet the fitness for registration requirements as set out in the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 and are suitably qualified and experienced to carry out the role they are applying for.

How Ofsted uses your data

Ofsted needs to make sure that providers can remain fit to carry on a registered children’s care service.

We need to keep some data, including personal data, for as long as you are registered to provide these services. This includes information about your suitability to provide children’s care services.

We may keep this information for longer if any regulatory issues or concerns were raised when you were registered.

Factors that prevent an individual from being associated with a voluntary adoption agency

There are several factors that may prevent an individual from being associated with a voluntary adoption agency, including:

not meeting the requirements of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 and the Adoption: national minimum standards
being on the Disclosure and Barring Service’s (DBS) list of individuals barred from working with children
having previously been refused registration with Ofsted, and the reasons for that refusal still applying

We also take into consideration whether individuals have previously been disqualified from working in a children’s home. You can find a full list of reasons for disqualification in our social care enforcement policy and in the Disqualification from Caring for Children (England) Regulations 2002.

Question 6

Types of providers

Accepted Answer

The provider is the legal entity carrying on the voluntary adoption agency. As such you are responsible for making sure that the provision meets the Care Standards Act 2000,the regulations made under it and the Adoption: national minimum standards.

There are 3 different types of voluntary adoption agency providers:

organisations
partnerships
individual providers

Organisations

Organisations include:

companies or limited liability partnerships (LLP) – the details provided must match what is recorded by Companies House
statutory bodies
charities
trusts, for example those appointed by a local authority
committees, for example a social care committee of a local community
unincorporated associations

Charities must show Ofsted that their organisation is set up correctly.

Read the Charity Commission’s guidance on setting up a charity for more information.

Partnerships

A partnership is a business in which 2 or more people share the profits and liabilities. This is usually under a written partnership agreement. A business registered as an LLP or a company does not count as a partnership. When a partnership applies to register, each person in the partnership must apply and be granted registration.

We will need to see a copy of the agreement or document that clearly establishes the partnership as a legal entity.

Individual providers

An individual provider can be one person or more than one person. They can provide a service, without having to set up a partnership, a company or an organisation. We name each person on the registration certificate. Any regulatory action we take may result in action against each person.

If an individual registers their business as a company, then this is an organisation.

Question 7

Roles

Accepted Answer

Certain roles must be in place to register a voluntary adoption agency, depending on the type of provider responsible for the agency.

Appointing a responsible individual

An organisation must appoint a responsible individual. They will communicate with us about the voluntary adoption agency on behalf of the organisation and have the experience, qualifications and skills necessary to supervise the management of the voluntary adoption agency.

Individuals and partnerships do not need to appoint a responsible individual. The individual or partnership must meet the same fitness requirements as responsible individuals. They will also need to nominate a point of contact to communicate with Ofsted.

The responsible individual can be any individual who has the appropriate skills. They will perform the functions of, or functions similar to, a director, whatever job title they have, for example:

a director of the organisation
a manager of the organisation
a secretary of the organisation
another officer of the organisation

A responsible individual, individual provider or partner must:

be of integrity and good character
have regard to the size of the adoption agency
have regard to its statement of purpose
safeguard and promote the welfare of children the agency is responsible for
carry on the adoption agency with sufficient care, competence and skill
be mentally and physically fit to carry on the adoption agency
provide satisfactory information in relation to the matters specified in Schedule 2 of the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005.

We do not register the responsible individual, but we must know who the individual is. They will need to complete an SC2 form. We will carry out checks on them and in most cases, interview them. Applicants should only appoint a responsible individual who they have assessed as suitable to represent the service to Ofsted. We may refuse the application if we do not consider the responsible individual to be suitable. We will contact the proposed provider to discuss our concerns.

Suitability of responsible individuals

Responsible individuals must demonstrate in their written application and interview that they are suitable and have the appropriate skills to carry on the voluntary adoption agency on behalf of the organisation. We also consider relevant information about any previous applications they have been, or still are, associated with.

You can find more information on what to expect at a registration interview and what documents the responsible individual will need in our Apply to register a voluntary adoption agency guidance.

Appointing a manager

You must appoint an individual to manage the agency. The manager does not need to complete an SC2 form; however, you must provide the manager’s details as part of the application form. We will usually carry out a suitable person interview with the proposed manager as part of the registration process. If we have any concerns about their suitability, we will discuss this with the responsible individual.

Fitness requirements for managers

You must not allow a person to manage a voluntary adoption agency unless they are fit to do so. A person is not fit to manage a voluntary adoption agency unless they:

are of integrity and good character
have regard to the size of the adoption agency
have regard to its statement of purpose
have regard to the numbers and needs of the children placed by it
have the qualifications, skills and experience necessary for managing the adoption agency
are physically and mentally fit to manage an adoption agency
can ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to them in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2 of the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005

Qualifications, skills and experience requirements for managers

The manager and branch manager (if applicable) must have the following qualifications, skills and experience on taking up the post:

a recognised social work qualification or a professional qualification at least at level 5, relevant to working with children
at least 2 years’ experience relevant to adoption within the past 5 years
at least one year’s experience supervising and managing professional staff
in-depth knowledge and experience of childcare law and practice
for the agency manager, a level 5 or higher management qualification

When an agency provides an inter-country adoption service, the manager must show knowledge of:

inter-country legislation and practice
the principles of the law and eligibility criteria for the overseas country
the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation
the country’s immigration rules and immigration legislation

An agency providing an inter-country adoption service must also demonstrate understanding of the implications for children who are:

adopted from outside the British Isles
being taken out of the British Isles for the purposes of adoption

Agency decision-maker, panel and adviser

Before registration can be granted, you will need to provide details of the proposed agency decision-maker, panel chair and panel adviser.

The panel must include people in the following roles, who must have the necessary skills and experience to carry out their responsibilities effectively:

an independent chair
2 social workers who have at least 3 years’ post-qualifying experience
a medical adviser to the adoption agency
a vice chair, who can be employed by the agency
at least 3 other members

If an applicant is providing to share a panel with 2 or more other adoption providers, it must include 4 other members.

You can find more details in part 2 of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005.

We do not require you to have appointed your panel at the point when you apply for registration. However, we will discuss your plans for recruiting, appointing and inducting the panel during the registration visit. This differs from fostering requirements and is proportionate to the different assessment processes.

Question 8

Conditions of registration

Accepted Answer

Conditions of registration describe the services that the voluntary adoption agency is registered to provide, for example:

domestic adoption services
inter-country adoption services
birth records counselling
intermediary services

We work with you as the provider to determine the conditions of registration. Occasionally, we may apply conditions that you have not agreed to. In this case, we will issue a notice of proposal, which you can object to by making a ‘written representation’ to us. For information on how to make a written representation, see the social care enforcement policy.

The conditions of registration are recorded on your registration certificate.

The social care enforcement policy sets out information about actions we may take if you do not follow these conditions.

It is an offence under the Care Standards Act 2000 to operate outside of the conditions set.

Question 9

Registration stages

Accepted Answer

The registration process consists of 3 stages:

the application
information gathering
determining suitability

Stage 1: submission of application forms

The application should include:

a form about the service provided (SC1 form)
a form from each associated person (SC2 form)
any required documents

Details of required documents and application information are listed in Apply to register a voluntary adoption agency and Apply to be associated with a voluntary adoption agency.

When submitting an SC1 form, you will be given a submission reference number. This is 14 characters long and includes numbers, hyphens and upper case letters, for example ABCD-1234-1234.

Once we confirm that all the information has been provided, we will ask you to pay the required fees.

Once the required fees are paid, we will allocate a unique reference number (URN) for the home, and we will start to process the information. Everyone who submitted an SC2 form as part of this application will be linked to this URN. The URN is a 6-digit number and is used to identify the application from this point in the process.

Having a URN does not mean you can operate. You must wait until Ofsted has granted your registration before you can operate.

Stage 2: information gathering

After we have accepted the application, we will contact the children’s services department in any local authority areas in which the applicant has lived in within the previous 5 years. We will ask the local authority whether it holds any relevant information that may affect their suitability to provide care and have regular contact with children.

This information could include:

whether the individual has been connected with a child protection inquiry
whether the individual has had a child removed from their care
whether the individual is subject to any ongoing investigations
whether there are any concerns that children may be at risk of harm on childcare premises
whether there are any prior concerns, allegations, or findings of misconduct deemed relevant to the current context or role

Other checks we carry out include:

requesting references
further health checks if we require medical advice about the applicant’s health and well-being

If necessary, we will discuss the information received from suitability checks with the associated individual as part of our decision-making process.

We will contact you to discuss the application and whether any additional information is required.

We may return the application if there are delays in receiving the necessary information. We call this ‘unable to determine an application’.

Unable to determine an application

In some situations, we may be unable to progress an application to the next stage or make a decision about it.

This may be because:

we do not have all the information that we need
there are delays with your references
other agencies or regulators are carrying out ongoing investigations that involve you
individuals linked to the application withdraw or leave
you do not identify anyone to replace individuals who withdraw or leave

If we are unable to progress an application, we will begin a formal process known as ‘unable to determine an application’. We will warn you that your application may be closed without a decision being made because we do not have all the information we need.

We do not start this process if there are delays in receiving information from local authority checks. We will continue to chase this so that we can decide about the application.

If there is other missing or delayed information, we will write to you to tell you what information we require. If you do not send us the information within 12 weeks of paying your registration fee, we may write to you to tell you that your application has been closed because we have been unable to process it without the relevant information. The fee you paid will not be refunded. Any people associated with the application will also have their applications closed, and we will not refund their fees.

You may re-apply in the future but will have to pay another fee.

Stage 3: determining suitability

At this stage, the inspector will contact you to arrange interviews and ask you whether you need any reasonable adjustments. They will ask for:

your arrangements for the support of adopters
your assessment and panel process, if this is not covered in your statement of purpose
the training that will be in place for adopters
the training that will be in place for staff
the supervision arrangements for staff. These should be sent to the inspector

Interviews may take place on different days and will be arranged with each individual. An interview is your opportunity to demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the regulations and guidance. Inspectors will usually interview the appointed responsible individual, even if we have interviewed the responsible individual before.

To reassure Ofsted of suitability, the inspector will:

interview people in certain roles of responsibility
read and discuss all necessary documentation provided
assess and evaluate all the information we have gathered

You can find more information on what to expect at interview and what original documents you must provide in our Apply to register a voluntary adoption agency guide.

After the interviews, the inspector will go over with you:

a summary of the evidence that they have collected
what happens next
whether any further information or interviews are required

You can withdraw your application at any time if you wish to do so.

Registration discussion and making the final decision

Following the interviews, the inspector will discuss all the evidence with their regulatory inspection manager. The regulatory inspection manager will decide whether you will be registered. Occasionally, the regulatory inspection manager may ask for more evidence before making their decision. In these cases, the inspector will contact you.

The regional manager will grant or refuse registration, usually within 7 working days, and send you one of the following:

a notice of decision to register
a notice of proposal to change the proposed conditions
a notice of proposal to refuse registration

Notice of decision to register

If the condition is agreed between you and Ofsted, we will issue a notice of decision to register.

The notice of decision to register confirms that you are now registered with us as a provider. We will send a registration certificate.

The registration certificate

The registration certificate includes:

the URN
the name of the registered provider
the name of the responsible individual (if applicable)
the full name, address and telephone number of the principal registered office
the full name, address and telephone number of any branch of the agency
the date of registration
the operating conditions that apply to the registration

Question 10

Registration refusal

Accepted Answer

If we are not satisfied that you can meet the regulatory requirements for registration, we will issue a notice of proposal to refuse the registration.

You will have the opportunity to tell us why we should not refuse the registration. To do this, you must write to us with reasons, also known as ‘representations’, within 28 days of the date that the notice of proposal  is served. This time period cannot be extended.

If we do not receive a response within 28 days, we will send a notice of decision to refuse your application.

For more information on the notice of proposal to refuse a registration, see the social care enforcement policy.

What happens if the application is refused

If we refuse the registration, this may have a negative effect on any application you make in the future.

Question 11

Withdrawing an application

Accepted Answer

You may withdraw your application by emailing sc.admin@ofsted.gov.uk. We will accept a withdrawal request if we have not already issued a notice of proposal to refuse registration. We will write to you if we have concerns about your fitness to register as a provider to tell you that we will consider those concerns if you apply in the future.

Notice of proposal: request to withdraw

If we have issued a notice of proposal to refuse an application, you can ask to withdraw the application. We may not allow this, for example, if we have concerns about:

your ability to safeguard children
other relevant information such as offences that you have committed

If we refuse a withdrawal request, you can still appeal the notice of proposal. More information can be found in the social care enforcement policy.

If we decide to refuse the registration, we will issue a notice of decision to refuse registration.

Question 12

Further information

Accepted Answer

You can go to our Apply to register a voluntary adoption agency guide for information on the application process, including the documents that you will need to provide when you apply and what to expect at interview.

You can read our Reporting changes about a voluntary adoption agency to Ofsted to find out more about what to expect when registered, including fee payment and making changes.

You can contact us if you need help with a query that is not covered in these guides or you do not understand what you need to do in your circumstances.

It is an offence under section 11 of the Care Standards Act 2000 to run a voluntary adoption agency without the appropriate registration. This includes while we are processing your application.

Question 13

Legislation

Accepted Answer

The following legislative and regulatory frameworks underpin the registration, operation, and oversight of voluntary adoption agencies in England, ensuring that services meet the required standards of care, safety, and governance.

General legislation

Care Standards Act 2000: sets the legal definitions of all agencies and establishments that we register
the Care Standards Act 2000 (Registration)(England) Regulations 2010: outlines the procedures for registering care services under the Care Standards Act 2000
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Fees and Frequency of Inspections) (Children’s Homes etc.) Regulations 2015: sets the fees and inspection frequency for various children’s services

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Applies to England

Providing adoption services in England and Wales