Regulation 40 notifications in children's homes

Regulation 40 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 tells a registered person which events they must report, to whom, and how quickly. It is short, and it is easy to over-report or under-report because the list of events is not the one most people carry in their heads.

This guide is for registered managers, deputies and responsible individuals in children's homes in England. It sets out what the regulation says, who has to be told for each event, what "without delay" means in practice, how an Ofsted notification is submitted, and what your own record should contain.

The short version

• Regulation 40 lists specific events. Behaviour that worries you, but does not fall into one of them, is not a notification unless you judge it to be a serious incident relating to a child.^[1]
• Most events go to Ofsted and to each other "relevant person", which means anyone you consider relevant to that child's care, protection or safeguarding. The placing authority will almost always be one of them.^[1][2]
• The law says "without delay". Ofsted's guidance says to report a child's death immediately, and everything else without delay and, where possible, within 24 hours.^[3]
• A notification must say what happened, who else you have told and what you have done about it, and it must be made or confirmed in writing.^[1]
• A child protection enquiry needs two notifications: one when it starts and one when it concludes, with the outcome.^[1][3]

What Regulation 40 requires

Regulation 40 requires the registered person to notify specified people, without delay, when one of a short list of events happens.^[1]

The registered person is the person registered with Ofsted as carrying on or managing the home. Any member of staff can fill in the Ofsted form, but the registered manager and the provider remain responsible for making sure incidents are reported and for the quality of what staff submit.^[4]

The regulation has been amended once since it was made. From 1 July 2022 the health body to be told of a child's death is the integrated care board for the area where the home is located.^[1]

The events you must notify

The regulation names the events below. Anything else is a judgement call, covered after the list.

• The death of a child.
• A referral of a person working in the home under section 35 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, the duty on regulated activity providers to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
• A child being involved in, subject to, or suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation.
• An incident requiring police involvement in relation to a child, which you consider to be serious.
• An allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there.
• A child protection enquiry involving a child being started, and, separately, concluding.
• Any other incident relating to a child which you consider to be serious.

Significant behavioural concerns, a child going missing, restraint and minor injuries are not on the list. A restraint or a missing episode may well be serious enough to fall under the last item, but that is your decision about seriousness, not an automatic trigger. Restraint and missing episodes still have to be recorded and followed up under other duties.

Who to notify for each event

Ofsted is always on the list. Who else depends on the event, and in some cases the regulation leaves it to you to decide who is relevant.^[1]

For the paragraph 4 events the regulation names only Ofsted and "each other relevant person". It does not name the placing authority, so deciding who is relevant is yours to do and to record. In practice the child's social worker or placing authority, and often parents or others with parental responsibility, will usually be relevant, but the regulation leaves it to your judgement about the child's care, protection and safeguarding.^[1][2] Note your reasoning, especially where you decide not to tell someone.

What "without delay" means in practice

"Without delay" is not defined in the regulation, so the practical test is whether anything other than the immediate safety of children is coming before the notification. Ofsted's guidance gives a working standard: report the death of a child immediately, and report all other incidents without delay and, where possible, within 24 hours.^[3]

Ofsted also says it recognises that gathering further information can take longer than 24 hours.^[3] That is not a reason to wait. Send what you know and say what you do not yet know. Ofsted asks that the form is not used for later updates, except for the conclusion of a child protection enquiry, and that further information goes by email to your inspector.^[4]

In a home this means the child's safety first, then the call to your manager or on-call, then the notification. Do not hold it back to finish the incident write-up. Record the time you decided the event was notifiable: if you are later asked why a report went in the next morning, that time is your answer.

How Ofsted notifications are submitted

Notifications to Ofsted go through the online serious incident reporting form, and your Ofsted record updates automatically when you submit.^[3] You choose the type of incident: the death of a child, a safeguarding referral, sexual exploitation, police involvement, an allegation of abuse, the start or conclusion of a child protection enquiry, or an other serious incident.^[3]

The form asks for your unique reference number (URN), the type of incident, your contact details and those of relevant staff, when and where it happened, details of any child involved and the initials of staff involved, your evaluation of the incident and actions taken, and whether you have told other relevant people or organisations such as the placing authority.^[3]

In urgent situations, particularly where there is a lot of press interest, Ofsted asks you to phone 0300 123 1231.^[3]

Regulation 40(5) requires notifications to be "made or confirmed in writing", so a phone call to a social worker is not enough on its own. Follow it with an email or an entry on your system that you can point to later.^[1]

Worked examples

Police called after an assault on a member of staff

A 15-year-old throws a chair at a support worker during an argument. The worker is bruised but not seriously hurt. The manager calls the police, officers attend, take statements and arrest the young person. This is a serious incident requiring police involvement. The manager submits the Ofsted form that day, and tells the placing authority's social worker and the young person's parents. Ofsted's guidance says serious police involvement usually means the police taking action on an incident in the home, such as an arrest or taking witness statements.^[3]

Police helping with a missing child

A 14-year-old is missing overnight, and the police are informed, as you would expect. She returns the next morning, safe. Ofsted's guidance says you do not need a separate report just because you are in contact with the police, and that for a non-secure home a missing episode is only reportable if there are serious concerns about unusual behaviour or patterns, the child is at grave risk because of age or vulnerability, or the child has been missing for a considerable period and you do not know where they are.^[3] None applies here, so the manager records the decision and the reasons and does not notify.

An allegation against a member of staff

A child tells her keyworker that a night support worker handled her roughly during a restraint. This is an allegation of abuse against a person working in the home, whatever the manager thinks of the account. It goes to Ofsted and to the other relevant people, without waiting for any investigation. The notification states the allegation, who has been told and what has been done to keep the child and staff safe. The manager then reviews the incident record in the usual way, as described in our guide to what happens after an incident report.

A child protection enquiry

The local authority tells the home it has started a child protection enquiry about a 12-year-old following a disclosure at school. The manager notifies Ofsted that the enquiry has started. Six weeks later the enquiry concludes. The manager sends a second notification with the outcome, quoting the reference number Ofsted gave for the first. Interim updates go to the inspector by email, not through the form.^[4]

What your notification record should contain

Regulation 40(5) fixes the minimum: the matter, the other people, bodies or organisations who have been notified, and the actions you have taken.^[1] For your own file, record at least the following.

• The event type from the list above and a short factual description, with date, time and place.
• The child's name and the initials and roles of staff involved.
• The time you decided the event was notifiable and who made that decision.
• The time Ofsted was notified, who submitted it, and Ofsted's reference number.
• Each other person or body notified, when, how, and by whom. Where you chose not to tell someone who might be thought relevant, say why.
• Actions taken at the time and any planned prevention measures.
• For a child protection enquiry, the start reference and, at the end, the outcome.

This record sits alongside the incident record and the child's chronology, and the registered manager's oversight of both. Our guides to management oversight and the safeguarding chronology cover how those fit together. Ofsted may look at records of previous serious incidents and how you assessed risk when it next inspects.^[4]

How a care system can help

In ARC, the registered manager can raise, edit and sign off a Regulation 40 notification against an incident, and other staff in the home can see that a notification exists on an incident they can already view. The notification to Ofsted is still yours to submit. If you are choosing a system, our buyer's guide to children's home software explains what to look for in incident and notification tracking.

Common questions

Is there a fixed time limit for a Regulation 40 notification? The regulation says "without delay" and sets no number of hours. Ofsted's guidance asks for a child's death to be reported immediately and all other incidents without delay and, where possible, within 24 hours.

Does a child going missing have to be notified? Not automatically. Missing from a non-secure children's home is only reportable to Ofsted if there are serious concerns about unusual behaviour or patterns, the child is at grave risk because of age or vulnerability, or they have been missing for a considerable period and you do not know where they are.

Is the use of restraint a notifiable event? It is not named in Regulation 40. It has to be recorded and reviewed under other duties, and you would notify it if you consider the incident to be serious.

Who counts as a "relevant person"? Any person, body or organisation that you consider relevant to the care, protection or safeguarding of the particular child in all the circumstances. It is a judgement, so record who you chose and why.

Can any member of staff submit the notification to Ofsted? Yes, any member of staff can use the form, but the registered manager and the provider are responsible for making sure incidents are reported and for the quality of the reports.

Sources

1. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 40 (as amended with effect from 1 July 2022). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/40 Checked 22 October 2026.
2. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 2, definition of "relevant person". https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/2 Checked 22 October 2026.
3. Ofsted, Tell Ofsted about a serious incident in a children's home or secure children's home. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tell-ofsted-about-a-serious-incident-in-a-childrens-home-or-secure-childrens-home Checked 22 October 2026.
4. Ofsted, Reporting serious incidents in a children's social care service to Ofsted. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tell-ofsted-about-an-incident-childrens-social-care-notification-form Checked 22 October 2026.