Summary
This release contains:
- inspection outcomes for local authority (LA) children’s services inspections from 1 November 2013, covering all inspections published by 30 April 2023
- the number of providers of children’s social care, and the number of places they are registered for, as at 31 March 2023
- the most recent inspections and outcomes for all regulated and inspected children’s social care provision, as at 31 March 2023 and published by 30 April 2023
- outcomes for all regulated and inspected children’s social care provision inspections carried out between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 and published by 30 April 2023
Main findings
The number of children’s homes in England continues to rise across all regions.
As at 31 March 2023, there was a 9% increase in the number of children’s homes (to 2,880) and a 7% increase in the number of places (to 10,818) compared with 31 March 2022. This continues the long-standing trend of the number of homes rising faster than the number of places.
Although all regions had an increase in the number of children’s homes this year, homes are still not evenly distributed across England. Similar to last year, the North West accounts for a quarter of all children’s homes and almost a quarter of all places.
All LAs have now had at least one inspection under the inspection of local authority children’s services (ILACS) framework. A higher proportion of LAs were graded good or outstanding after their first ILACS inspection compared with their first single inspection framework (SIF) inspection.
After every LA had received one ILACS inspection, the proportion of LAs judged good or outstanding for overall effectiveness was 55%, which is higher than after every LA had received a full inspection under the SIF framework, when this proportion was 36%. The proportion of LAs rated inadequate has fallen from 22% after every LA had received a full SIF inspection to 13% after every LA had received a full ILACS inspection.
The long-term trend of the steadily decreasing number and potential capacity of residential special schools registered as children’s homes continues this year as these settings close or reconfigure their registration.
This year’s total of 56 residential special schools registered as children’s homes is the lowest in the last decade and contrasts with the 2014 total of 88 residential special schools registered as children’s homes (a 36% drop since 2014). In the same period, potential capacity has dropped from 2,331 to 1,457 (a 37% drop since 2014). In some cases, this may relate to reconfiguration of settings’ registration as opposed to their closure.
Residential family centres saw a large proportional increase compared with last year, with a 15% increase in settings and a 20% increase in potential capacity.
Residential family centres represent a small proportion of social care providers and places overall but saw a substantial increase compared with last year, with a 15% increase in settings (from 68 to 78) and a 20% increase in potential capacity (from 371 to 444).