Following an email sent earlier today by Commissioning Alliance, requesting registration certificates until the 20th October, the Supported Accommodation Association has sent CA the following email.
The Supported Accommodation Association is a recently formed association that represents supported accommodation providers with the common goal of improving the quality of supported accommodation for young people. At this moment we have around 100 members, 30% of which are London-based providers.
Ordinarily, we would have liked to introduce ourselves under different circumstances, and we look forward to collaborating with you in the near future.
However, there’s an urgent matter that is affecting several of our providers on the back of an email the Commissioning Alliance distributed today.
We believe, this is going to impact the current offer, causing a reduced supply of suitable accommodation for vulnerable young people, which in our opinion is unfair and unreasonable.
The Commissioning Alliance is requesting an Ofsted registration certificate by the 20th of October. However, to be able to legally operate after the 28th of October providers do not need to be fully registered (thus, having a registration certificate), but have their application accepted, which Ofsted acknowledges with an “acknowledgement letter”.
Can you clarify if you will require providers to be fully registered or, as per legislation and DfE and Ofsted requirements, have their application accepted?
The date presented (20th October) also creates what we believe to be unnecessary pressure to the providers as the requirement is to have the application accepted by the 28th, and we are aware of current delays on Ofsted capacity to accept and validate applications.
This would mean that providers would be unfairly treated, even when they are abiding by the current regulations and requirements. Thus, we also urge the Commissioning Alliance to consider taking “acknowledgement letters” as proof from your providers, as this is the legal criteria to operate from 28th October 2023, as well as to work with providers and the Supported Accommodation Association to find a workaround for those who receive the letters between the 20th and 28th October.