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Introduction to the Standards	Size:
Introduction

The national minimum standards for children’s homes are issued by the Secretary of State for Health under Section 23 of the Care Standards Act 2000(CSA). These standards form the basis for judgements made by the NCSC regarding registration and the imposition of conditions for registration, variation of any conditions and enforcement of compliance with the CSA and associated regulations, including proceedings for cancellation of registration or prosecution.

The Commission will therefore consider the degree to which a regulated service complies with the standards when determining whether or not a service should be registered or have its registration cancelled, or whether to take any action for breach of regulations.

The Secretary of State will keep the standards under review, and may publish amended standards as appropriate.

The relevant regulations are the Children’s Homes Regulations SI 2001(3967). A number of provisions of the Children Act 1989 are also applicable to children’s homes.

The standards are ‘minimum’ standards, rather than ‘best possible’ practice. Many homes will more than meet the national minimum standards and will aspire to exceed them in many ways.

Minimum standards do not mean standardisation of provision. The standards are designed to be applicable to the wide variety of different types of establishment that come within the category of children’s homes, and to enable rather than prevent individual homes to develop their own particular ethos and approach to care for children with different needs.

Although the standards are primarily issued for use by the NCSC in regulating children’s homes, they will also have other important practical uses. They may be used by providers and staff of homes in self-assessment of their own homes, they provide a basis for the induction and training of staff, they can be used by parents, children and young people as a guide to what they should expect a home to provide and to do, and they can provide guidance on what is required when setting up a home. Those involved with children’s homes in any way are encouraged to make full use of these standards in these ways.

These standards apply from 1 April 2002, unless otherwise stated in any standard.