Regulation 44 Independent Person Network

members’ area and conference homepage

Welcome to the Regulation 44 Independent Person Network conference.

You will find the resources you need here for the session.

Click to launch the Zoom session

The sessions are run on the Zoom platform.

The waiting room will be open 15 minutes prior to the start of the course. Please ensure the name on your Zoom is the name registered with (see below if you need to change this).

To launch the Zoom session, please click the launch course button on the left. If you have problems joining check the advice on using Zoom and troubleshooting options above. If you require them, the Meeting ID and Password are:

Meeting ID: 812 1426 5132
Passcode: 454650

About Zoom

If you’re not familiar with Zoom you may find the following videos helpful before the session. It is reasonably intuitive, so you should not worry. We will also move you into small groups and ask you to vote on questions – these instructions will appear clearly on your screen.

Being involved – our conferences are pretty relaxed, interactive and work best when there are lots of questions. Please feel free to chip in during a gap, use the ‘raise your hand’ button or put a question in chat at any time. Chat is one of the assets of using Zoom as it makes sure you can get your question in. Our trainers try to avoid reading the chat when they’re speaking, but do look at very regular intervals and should come back to your question. If they’ve missed it please chip in or ‘raise your hand’.

Video and sound – We like to see you! It’s good for the trainer to be able to gauge the reaction of the group and that everyone is engaged with the training. Do check your background prior to going live to make sure there’s nothing that might embarrass you. There is a function in Zoom to hide your background if you wish. Ultimately, if you really cannot face having the video on this is ok. Please mute your sound unless you want to speak so that background noise does not affect everyone else – the trainer may mute everyone if there is interference. Don’t forget to turn it on before speaking!

Problems accessing the session If you have difficulty accessing the Zoom platform on the day, please contact admin@dialogueltd.co.uk or contact us on 01803 493030. We will do our best to help you join, although we do not offer technical support.

Some organisations have systems that block access to Zoom. If you are having difficulties and are able to you may wish to access the course from a personal computer or tablet.

13:00     Introductions – Liz Cooper and Brian Smith

13:10     Sector update and current Reg 44 trends/findings – Liz Cooper and Brian Smith

13:20     Changes to Ofsted’s approach to inspection and links to Reg 44? – Brian Smith

13:45     DfE National Framework – Liz Cooper

14:15     Key Themes: Mental Health – Brian Smith

Is there a sense that there is increased need for homes to meet higher need mental health concerns?

14:45     Culture – Liz Cooper

15:45     Group Discussions

16:00     Close

Dates of upcoming meetings

Regulation 44 network meetings for 2024 are all running 1pm – 4pm on:

  • Monday 11th March 2024
  • Tuesday 11th June 2024
  • Tuesday 17th September 2024
  • Monday 9th December 2024

Notes and resources from previous meetings

Please find our archived content below

Agenda:

13:00     Introductions – Liz Cooper

13:15     Sector update and current Reg 44 trends/findings

13:45     Discussion – Reg 44 update training

14:00     “So what makes you therapeutic?” – Clair Davies

This was the question I was most commonly asked by Social Workers, Commissioners and Ofsted when I was Director and Principal at Appletree Treatment Centre.  The answer is “It’s not rocket science but it is very hard work!”  There are decades of research on what helps heal trauma for children and young people but getting trauma informed practice deeply embedded in your homes and to keep it going when times get tough is very hard.  This presentation explores how to evidence truly therapeutic care and its positive outcomes in the homes that you visit in your role as Reg 44 Visitor.

15:00     Discussion – membership criteria

15:30     Update and discussion on Reg 44 Handbook and knowledge leaflets

15:45     AOB

16:00     Close

So what makes you therapeutic – Clair Davies

Please see the templates already received from our members.  If you are happy to share a template report, please email your template to admin@dialogueltd.co.uk and we will format and save in PDF before uploading here.

Templates should not be shared or used by members without the author’s permission.

PDF iconChildhood Matters Reg44 report template

PDF icondialogue Reg44 report template

PDF iconFair Ways Reg 44 template

PDF iconPriory Additional Checks template

PDF iconPriory reg 44 report template

Presenters’ slides

PDF icon Christine’s presentations on context of pandemic and the unregulated sector consultation

PDF icon John’s presentation on Regulation 44 report requirements

Agenda from our March 2021 meeting:

10:00      Welcome & introductions, Christine Freestone, John Woodhouse and Callum Worsnop from DfE

                Covid-19 Update, Reg44 and Pandemic, Christine Freestone

10:45     Review of Education for Children in Residential Care, John Woodhouse

We will reviewing and discussing the latest paper released by Ofsted.

Please visit The education of children living in children’s homes – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

11:30      Unregistered? Unregulated? Providers and new standards for semi independent accommodation for under 18s, Callum Worsnop, from DfE

Please find the link for the press release on banning unregulated providers at

Unregulated accommodation banned for vulnerable children under 16 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

12:15    Learning from Lockdown – a review – Small group reflections
1pm      Large group feedback
1.30pm      Close

PowerPoint logoEducation- children in residential care. March 2021pptx

PDF iconReg44 meeting feedback on new stanards for semi-independent provision

We had a great meeting in July with 25 attendees. Christine provided a COVID-19 update – regulations, guidance, society and the impact of children in residential care and discussed with the group some approaches to ensure a robust, safe but realistic response. Liz Cooper, deputy CEO of the Independent Children’s Homes Association has been speaking to leaders and managers of children’s homes every week through the pandemic. She shared with us some of the experiences and some of the learning for regulation 44 visitors. After a few technical difficulties there were discussions on the boundaries of the Regulation 44 role and on the Government consultation on extending some of the regulations under the Coronavirus regulations (The consultation closes on 5th August but we heard about the views of several academics criticising the consultation as overly political and skewed).

John Woodhouse sums up some of the findings of the survey from last time and we agreed how the Regulation 44 Independent Person Network will be structured and costed. Download the report & proposal here.

The next meeting will be on 5th October 2020, from 10am to 1pm. To attend you will need to join the Regulation 44 Independent Person Network (you can do this in the next column).

PDF icon Download Christine’s presentation here

PDF icon Download Liz’s presentation here

In June and July we also ran a supported living/16+ in unregulated accommodation subgroup considering the consultation:

word logoConsultation-with-draft-response updated 02.07.21

We had an excellent online meeting last month talking about the impact of COVID-19 on independent visits to children’s homes. Christine Freestone described the impact of the virus and many of those present were grateful for her analysis and ideas. The importance of Regulation 44 visitors has not been more significant in recent years, with Ofsted confirming on Sunday evening they will not be undertaking routine inspections until April 2021 (see below). Instead they will rely on sources of information such as the Regulation 44 reports to determine whether a visit should be undertaken. This reinforces the need to ensure visitors are properly supported and we undertook a survey to determine what support people would like going forward (see agenda).

Attendees completed a survey on what they wanted and saw the benefit of a low-cost paid membership scheme (see the report & proposal). People said they would like regular meetings, so we have scheduled another meeting for Thursday 23rd July, 10am to 12pm. If you’d like to attend join the Regulation 44 ‘waiting list’ at dialogueltd.co.uk/reg44. Christine will provide further updates on the shifting sands as we come out of lockdown and we are being joined by the eminent deputy CEO of ICHA, Liz Cooper, who will share with us the findings of her weekly ‘state of the nation’ telephone survey of children’s homes. There will be additional time for the small groups to focus on some semi-structured questions and we will agree a framework and dates for the network moving forward.

Reg44 Impact Analysis Working Group

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Regulation 44 impact analysis. We have now completed the analysis of the data and found Independent Persons have a significant impact on safeguarding, welfare, staff, managers, commissioners and inspection.

However, there was much variability in both the quality and expectations of Independent Persons’ work and we’re planning to develop national Practice Guidance to support the role. We have shared the detailed findings with the Department for Education (who were also members of the Independent Advisory Board for the research) ahead of their response to the Independent Care Review. 

The working group meets monthly, chaired by Liz Cooper.  The next dates and joining instructions are detailed below:

11th January 2-4pm

7th February 3-5pm

8th March 2-4pm

Reg44 Training

Our Regulation 44 training is very well received. Six sessions of crucial content to aid reflect for new and experienced visitors alike, or we now have a 1 day refresher course available to book, delivered as two half day sessions on zoom.  Members receive a 25% discount.

Click to book or express interest for 2 day full course
Click to book or express interest for 1 day refresher course

Return Interviews

It’s a requirement independent interviewers are trained to undertake Return Home Interviews. Members receive a 25% discount on this half day course.

Click to book or express interest