Children: Care Homes Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Naseby
Main Page: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Naseby's debates with the Department for International Trade
(3 years, 2 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, as I have outlined, there are many excellent providers in this sector, and it is not fair to tar everybody with the same brush when there are a minority of situations in which, of course, we need to act. The noble Lord is correct: a review is currently under way by the Competition and Markets Authority to look at the market in this space, but many of those providers provide a good or outstanding service.
Is my noble friend aware that Ofsted stopped doing routine inspections in March 2020? Therefore, only 29 homes were inspected in the next nearly six months. Are discussions being held with Ofsted to ensure that all those unregulated homes are inspected regularly?
My Lords, the consultation closes on 19 July. Once we have national standards, it is envisaged that Ofsted will inspect this provision as well. As the noble Lord outlined, Ofsted has still been inspecting on a risk base, when it is alerted to problems in children’s homes—but it is getting back to all its routine inspections now.