Regulation
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What the change does
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Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 9, 19 and 47C
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This amends the requirements to complete placement plans once a child has been placed within five or ten days (depending on circumstances) to as soon as reasonably practicable. This also applies to children on remand.
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Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulation 11
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This means that a child can be placed outside their local area with a carer, even if this carer is not ‘connected’ to them, without approval by a nominated officer.
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Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulation 23
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An emergency placement with an approved foster carer can now last 24 weeks, rather than 6 days, even if that foster carer is eg not approved to look after that many children
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Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulation 28
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This sets out that ‘visits’ to children in care can be done by phone or video call. It states that ‘Where (a social worker) is unable to visit (a child) within the timescales set out in this regulation the responsible authority must ensure that R visits C as soon as is reasonably practicable thereafter.’ This is a relaxation of the requirement to visit to those timescales.
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Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulation 33 and 48
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This changes the requirement for care plan reviews to take place every six months – it is now ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’ after that if six months is missed. This also applies to children in short breaks care.
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Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulation 48
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Children can stay with short breaks carers for up to 75 days in one go, rather than 17 days in one go (the 75 day per year total remains the same)
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Fostering Services (England) Regulation 23
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This removes the requirement for foster panels to be set up to approve new carers or review foster carers.
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Fostering Services (England) Regulation paragraph 2 of Schedule 3
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This removes the requirement for a medical report at the initial stages of foster care approval
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The Children’s Homes Regulation 6
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Changes the requirement for care from staff outside the home to be delivered by someone with the knowledge and skills to do it, to make this only ‘as far as reasonably practicable’
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The Children’s Homes Regulation 8
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This sets out a ‘reasonable endeavour’ to make sure children achieve the education standard in Children’s Homes
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The Children’s Homes Regulation 20
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This sets out that children can be deprived of their liberty under public health powers of the Coronavirus Act 2020 if they are symptomatic
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The Children’s Homes Regulation 22
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Allows for contact with family to take place remotely
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The Children’s Homes Regulation 44
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This sets out independent visitors should ‘make reasonable endeavours’ to visit monthly, rather than that they have to
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Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Fees and Frequency of Inspections) (Children’s Homes etc) Regulation 27
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This stops the requirement for children’s homes to be inspected twice a year
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Residential Family Centres Regulation 10
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This states that for residential family centres (such as mother and baby units) the provider must only make ‘reasonable endeavours to ensure’ that they promote and provide for the health, welfare, care, treatment and education of residents rather that that they ‘shall’ do so.
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Residential Family Centres Regulation 20
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This allows for complaints to be responded to within 28 days ‘as far as reasonably practicable’ rather than a hard time limit
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Residential Family Centres Regulation 25
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This allows for the registered provider to only have to make ‘reasonable endeavours’ to visit the unit once a month.
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Adoption Agencies Regulation 17 and 30D and 31
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This allows for a Local Authority to choose not to have an adoption panel approve placements for adoptions and to have the decision for whether adopters remain suitable approved by the panel
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Adoption Agencies Regulation 4
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This reduced the number of people required on an adoption panel, if it does go ahead
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Adoption Agencies Regulations 27
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This means that a potential adopter can go through the first stage of pre-assessment without medical or DBS checks, although these would still be needed before final approval
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Adoption Agencies Regulations 36
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This stops the requirement for reviews when a child has either been approved or placed with adopters if this is not reasonably practicable, but an adoption order has not yet been made, unless the agency thinks there is a safeguarding issue
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Private Arrangements for Fostering Regulations 4,7 and 8
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This means that if a LA becomes aware of a child who is, or is about to be, privately fostered they now only need to visit them ‘as soon as is reasonably practicable’ rather than within seven days, and then only make reasonable steps to visit every six or 12 weeks in subsequent years
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Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure Regulations 18, 19 and 20
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These regulations mean that review panels into complaints only have to respond to complainants ‘as soon as reasonably practical’ rather than to statutory timescales
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Education and Inspections Act 2006 (Inspection of Local Authorities) Regulation 3
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Children Act 2004 (Joint Area Reviews) Regulation 4
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This change relaxes the requirement to provide a response and proposed plan of action within 70 days of an Ofsted inspection of LA services. The same change applies after joint area inspections
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