• Home
• Contents
• Search
• Glossary
• Regulations

Introduction to the Standards	Size:
Structure and approach

The national minimum standards for children’s homes focus on achievable outcomes for children and young people - that is, the impact on the individual of the facilities and services of the home. The standards are grouped under a series of key topics:

Planning for Care Quality of Care Complaints and Protection Care and Control

Environment Staffing Management and Administration Specialist Provision.

Each standard is preceded by a statement of the outcome for service users to be achieved by the children’s home. The standards themselves are numbered and the full set of numbered paragraphs must be met in order to achieve compliance with the standards.

Wherever possible, all the regulations that the set of standards are linked to have been listed. However, other regulations and/or primary legislation, in particular the Children Act 1989, may also be relevant. The note should be taken as a general guide and is not an exhaustive legal reference.

The standards are intended to be qualitative, in that they provide a tool for judging the quality of life experienced by services users, but they are also designed to be measurable.

In inspecting against these standards, the NCSC will follow a consistent inspection methodology and reporting format across the country. Regulators will look for evidence that the requirements are being met and that a good quality of life is being enjoyed by those cared for in the home. Practice which exceeds the requirements of the minimum standards will also be identified, recognised and reported through inspections.

It is intended that the standards will be used, both by homes and by the NCSC, to focus on securing positive welfare, health and education outcomes for children and young people, and reducing risks to their welfare and safety. All providers and staff of children’s homes should aim to provide the best care possible for the children in their care, and observing the standards is an essential part, but only a part, of the overall responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of each individual child accommodated.