New commission takes legal action over unregistered placements of children

Two English councils are being taken to court by the Commission
for Social Care Inspection for using unregistered secure local
emergency placements for children, chief inspector David Behan
confirmed, writes Lauren Revans.

Behan said that an inspection in March revealed that a provider
was running an unregistered children’s service, and that two
councils, which cannot be named at this stage, were placing
children in this service, despite knowing that it was
unregistered.

“We are taking the provider to court for running an
unregistered service, and the councils for aiding and abetting this
offence,” Behan said.

“We have also taken action to stop this situation from
recurring with a chief inspector’s letter being sent to all
directors of social services reminding them of their duty to check
that services are appropriately registered before placements are
made.”

Behan said that children should not be placed with people who
were not registered “because of the potential
risks”.

“Children require the same protection in emergencies as
when their placements are planned. If a council regularly has
difficulties securing local emergency placements, then plans should
be made to develop local emergency provision.”