Residential Short Breaks Services

Local Authorities in England are required to provide short breaks for disabled children under the Children Act 1989, the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011 and the Statutory Guidance on Short Breaks for Disabled Children 2010. This procurement is for the provision of a range of flexible short break services for the benefit of qualifying disabled Children and Young People and Parents, Carers and Families who are referred to the Provider.

The provision will support the designated "North" of the county and is intended to support across geographical areas formed by the local authority areas of Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council, Stafford Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council. Provision across other geographical areas of the county is provided by Staffordshire County Council owned premises.

Any premises must be fully registered with Ofsted and the eligibility for Residential Short Breaks requires a diagnosed Learning Disability (LD) or Physical Disability (PD) as the primary need. Consequently, any short break home must be registered under the categories of LD and PD to meet the service requirements. Ofsted also encourages local authorities to ensure that short break homes are located in a way that minimises disruption to a child's routine and maintains their connection to the community.

Regulation 27A of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 states that Children in Care under 16 cannot be placed in 'other arrangements' for short breaks, except in residential holiday schemes for disabled children or other exempted regulated settings. Consequently, as some children requiring a short break will be Children in Care, this necessitates that the home provides exclusively for short breaks, and no other types of placements.

The requirements have been summarised and captured as:

Based on Ofsted research and good practice as detailed above, is that the home must be within 1 hour's drive of the two boroughs and one district it is supporting. This measure aims to minimise disruption to the child's family and routine, while also ensuring that the child or young person retains a close connection to their home district and community.

The provision will be within the boundaries of Staffordshire County Council, which is supported by the intent of the legislation.

Premises must be Ofsted registered and inspected to meet statutory requirements. As a minimum this registration will be under the categories of Learning Disability (LD) and Physical Disability (PD) to meet the service requirements.

There will been a minimum of five registered places to meet potential demand.

Be an exclusive provider of short breaks services without any more permanent placements within the property.

Around 45 individual children access the current provision across the North of the county every year. The current annual cost to support this is around £577,000, but this is always subject to funding availability.