Ofsted suspension of a children's home registration

We know how this feels

A suspension is one of the hardest notices a children's home can receive. The home you run cannot operate, the children who live there have somewhere else to be, and your staff are frightened. The phone does not stop.

It is not always the end. Ofsted's policy is to lift a suspension if the risk of harm no longer exists, and it says some suspensions are lifted without further action because its enquiries confirm that the provider continues to meet the requirements of registration. In our experience, what decides the outcome is how quickly the risk can be shown to have gone, and what other agencies find.

What is an Ofsted suspension?

Section 14A of the Care Standards Act 2000 lets Ofsted suspend a registration for a specified period, and the period can be extended on one or more occasions. The registration continues while it is suspended, but a person who carries on or manages the home during that time commits an offence.

Ofsted's policy says the overarching aim is to ensure the safety of children, so that the provider stops operating until the risk of harm is eliminated.

Ofsted can suspend the provider, the registered manager or both. It may suspend a manager on their own, for example where a registered manager has been arrested or charged with an offence that suggests children may be at risk. If it suspends a manager, it looks at the wider implications for the provider's registration.

In a children's home, a suspension means all children accommodated must leave, including any on a short break. Ofsted's policy says that, for their safety, every effort should be made to ensure that children leave on the day of the suspension.

There are two routes, urgent and non-urgent. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Urgent suspension (section 20B)

Section 20B lets Ofsted give notice in writing that a suspension takes effect from the time the notice is given. It can do that where it has reasonable cause to believe that, unless it acts, any person will or may be exposed to the risk of harm. The notice must say that it is given under section 20B, give Ofsted's reasons, specify the period of suspension and explain your right of appeal.

Ofsted's policy uses the Children Act 1989 definition of harm: ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development, including impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another.

Ofsted's policy says it will only use urgent suspension where it considers it the best way of responding to risk and securing the safety of children. It says urgent suspension lets it respond where a setting is not operating according to the requirements and that gives rise to a risk of harm, allow an investigation to be completed, including investigations by other agencies, and take action to reduce or eliminate the risk of actual harm.

Ofsted says it tries to tell the provider as soon as possible, sometimes before drafting the notice, so that arrangements for the children can begin. It tells the host local authority and all placing local authorities of its decision and reasons at the same time, and must notify all local authorities in England and Wales.

The notice sets out the reasons, the period, Ofsted's legal powers and your right to appeal. If the police or other agencies are involved, Ofsted may be limited in what it can tell you, particularly if sharing it could jeopardise their investigation.

Non-urgent suspension (section 14A)

Non-urgent suspension is for a home that is being, or has at any time been, carried on otherwise than in accordance with the relevant requirements. Ofsted has to give a notice of proposal first. Section 17(4)(aa) covers a proposal to suspend the registration or extend a suspension.

You have 28 days from service to make written representations. If Ofsted decides to go ahead, its notice of decision must state the period of suspension and explain your right of appeal.

Ofsted's policy says the test for non-urgent suspension mirrors a ground for cancellation, so it also considers whether cancellation is more appropriate. It may use non-urgent suspension to give a provider the opportunity to show it can meet the requirements over time while children are accommodated elsewhere, but says it is unlikely to do so if it is not confident the provider can meet and sustain compliance.

How a notice of proposal works

How long does an Ofsted suspension last?

Ofsted's policy says it will normally suspend registration for an initial period of 12 weeks, and keep the need for suspension under review. It reviews before the period expires, earlier when there is evidence that the test is no longer met, and when the suspended person applies to vary or remove the suspension.

If the risk of harm remains at the end of the initial 12 weeks, Ofsted says it may suspend further and may consider other options, such as cancellation. It says it will always consider cancellation when it extends a suspension. A non-urgent extension needs a notice of proposal, and an urgent extension can be made under section 20B.

When Ofsted lifts a suspension, the provider must inform it when it begins to accommodate children.

Ofsted's own figures show how this goes in practice. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, it recorded 62 suspensions of children's homes. Of the 61 homes that had received suspensions at some point in the year, 29 had become active again by 31 March 2026, 14 had resigned, 1 had closed, 3 had been cancelled and 14 remained suspended.

Applying to lift or vary a suspension

You do not have to wait for Ofsted's review. Section 15(1)(c) of the Care Standards Act 2000 lets a registered person apply for the cancellation of a suspension, or for the period of it to be varied. Ofsted's policy says you can apply at any time, and that if Ofsted grants an application it must serve written notice of its decision.

Ofsted says it will lift a suspension if the risk of harm no longer exists. An application is only as strong as the evidence that the risk has gone: what went wrong, what has changed and how you know. It may also depend on what other agencies find, because Ofsted says suspension can allow their investigations to be completed.

The offence of operating while suspended

A registered person who carries on or manages the home while the registration is suspended is guilty of an offence under section 24A of the Care Standards Act 2000, and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. Ofsted's policy says it is an offence to fail to comply with a suspension once it has taken effect, that Ofsted will take this seriously, and that it is also likely to lead to cancellation of the registration.

If a company commits the offence with a director's or manager's consent or connivance, or through their neglect, that person is guilty of it too. Since 15 July 2026, Ofsted can also impose a fine itself instead of prosecuting.

Before anyone does anything in the home during a suspension, ask Ofsted in writing what is permitted, and take legal advice. Do not rely on a phone call.

Appealing a suspension

Both routes can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal. No appeal may be brought more than 28 days after service on you of notice of the decision. On an appeal against an urgent decision, the Tribunal may confirm it or direct that it shall cease to have effect. It can also vary the period of any suspension.

An urgent suspension takes effect from the time the notice is given. On our reading of the Act, the automatic wait for an appeal in section 19(5) applies to decisions made after a notice of proposal, not to urgent notices. Section 21(4ZA) lets the Tribunal direct that an urgent decision shall cease to have effect, which suggests it is in effect while the appeal runs. Treat an urgent suspension as in force until the period in the notice ends, Ofsted lifts it or the Tribunal directs that it ceases to have effect.

Ofsted's policy says an expedited appeal process applies to urgent suspension. Your evidence needs to be ready from the start.

Ofsted's policy says that for registered persons, the burden of proving the case rests with Ofsted. The Tribunal considers the evidence available on the date of the hearing, so improvements you can evidence between the notice and the hearing count.

Ofsted's policy says providers may wish to seek legal advice or representation for an appeal. Your own solicitor or our trusted legal partners can advise on whether to appeal, and we build the evidence alongside them.

How First-tier Tribunal appeals work

Why providers call HLTH

Our Ofsted compliance and regulatory support team works with children's homes and supported accommodation. It draws on the collective experience of the wider HLTH team in regulation, governance and turnaround.

We help you acknowledge each reason Ofsted gave, assess what sits behind it, reduce the risk, evidence every change and make sure it holds. The same evidence serves Ofsted's review, an application to lift the suspension and any appeal.

If an appeal makes sense, your own solicitor or our legal partners can handle it. We build the evidence alongside them.