Regulation 44 visits in children's homes: a guide

A Regulation 44 visit is a visit to a children's home in England by an independent person, which the registered person must ensure happens at least once each month. The visit may be unannounced, and the independent person writes a report giving their opinion on whether children are effectively safeguarded and whether the home promotes their well-being.^[1]

This guide is for registered providers, responsible individuals and registered managers, and for anyone thinking of working as an independent person. It sets out what the regulations say about who can do the job, what the visit and report must cover, who gets the report and by when, and how a manager should respond to what the report finds.

The short version

• The registered provider appoints the independent person, at its own expense, and the registered person must ensure they visit the home at least once each month.^[1][2]
• The registered person must help the independent person to interview children, parents, relatives and staff in private, if they consent, and to inspect the premises and records.^[1]
• The report must say, in particular, whether children are effectively safeguarded and whether the conduct of the home promotes children's well-being. It may recommend actions and timescales.^[1]
• The regulation says who must receive a copy of the report. It sets no deadline, but Ofsted requires its copy before the end of the month after the visit.^[1][3]
• Providers may comment on the report, but nobody other than the independent person may alter it.^[3]

What is a Regulation 44 visit?

Regulation 44 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 is titled "Independent person: visits and reports". It requires the registered person to ensure that an independent person visits the children's home at least once each month.^[1] A visit may be unannounced.^[1]

The visit is not an Ofsted inspection, and it is not the home's own review. It is an external check, carried out for the registered provider, on how the home is doing. The home's own six-monthly review of the quality of care is a separate duty under Regulation 45, covered in our guide to Regulation 45 quality of care reviews.

Who can be the independent person?

The registered provider appoints the independent person, at the provider's expense, to visit and report on the home. A provider that runs several homes may appoint the same person for all or any of them.^[2] The DfE guide adds that the registered person is ultimately responsible for making sure the appointment does not give rise to a conflict of interest that would, or would appear to, compromise the person's ability to reach a rigorous and impartial judgement.^[4]

Regulation 43 says a provider may not appoint the following, subject to exceptions covered below:^[2]

• where the provider is a local authority, a person employed by that authority in connection with its social services functions relating to children;
• where it is not a local authority, a person employed for payment by the registered provider;
• a person involved in preparing the care plan of any child placed at the home, or responsible for managing or supervising that person;
• a person responsible for commissioning or financing services provided by the home;
• a person with a financial interest in the home;
• the responsible individual, if one is nominated;
• a person who has, or has had, a connection with the registered person, a person working at the home or a child, which the provider considers gives rise to doubts about their impartiality.

There are two exceptions. An employee of the provider is not disqualified from the first, second or last of those categories by employment alone if they are employed solely to examine and scrutinise critically the way the home is carried on or managed, and the quality of care provided. And where the provider is a local authority, an independent reviewing officer is not disqualified by that appointment alone from the first, third or last categories.^[2] The DfE guide says an employee must be employed solely for the purpose of quality assurance within the home or homes.^[4]

The regulations set no qualification. The DfE guide says the provider should make sure the person has the skills and understanding to relate to children in the home's care, assess all relevant information and form an impartial judgement about the quality of care, and that their skills, experience and professional background are relevant to the assessment.^[4]

What if a conflict of interest comes up?

The independent person must declare any actual or potential conflict of interest to the provider without delay and, if reasonably practicable, before the visit. If the provider becomes aware of one before or during a visit, it must make arrangements to cancel the visit without delay and appoint a different independent person.^[2] If the independent person becomes aware of a potential conflict after a visit, the report must include details of it and the reasons they did not tell the provider beforehand.^[1]

What must the visit cover?

The regulation is specific about what the registered person must help with. If they consent, the independent person may interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and the people working at the home as they require. They may also inspect the premises and such of the home's records as they require. A child's case records are excluded unless the child and the child's placing authority consent.^[1]

The regulation does not list further topics for the visit. The DfE guide says the independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in its care.^[4] For a home with more than one building, Ofsted's framework says the independent person must visit each building, to understand the experience of all children in the home, and should check that any building not in use remains fit for purpose.^[3]

As the registered manager, your job on the day is to make the access real: children offered the chance to speak without staff present, records produced when asked, no part of the building off limits. Tell children beforehand that the visitor is coming and who they are, where the visit is announced, and that speaking to them is their choice.

What must the independent person's report say?

The independent person must produce a report about each visit. It must set out, in particular, their opinion on whether children are effectively safeguarded, and whether the conduct of the home promotes children's well-being.^[1] The report may recommend actions the registered person may take, and the timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take them.^[1]

The regulation does not give a template or a list of headings. Ofsted says the reports provide crucial information about the safety, welfare and progress of children, and that it monitors the frequency and timeliness of submission and the overall quality of reports.^[3] It also asks that the report show Ofsted's unique reference number (URN) for the home and the date of the visit.^[3]

Who receives the report, and by when?

The independent person must provide a copy of their report to each of the following.^[1]

• His Majesty's Chief Inspector (Ofsted).
• On request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located.
• The placing authorities of children.
• The registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager.
• The responsible individual, if one is nominated.

The regulation sets no deadline. Ofsted's framework does: it requires the independent person or provider to send the report to Ofsted before the end of the month following the month in which the visit took place. A visit in March, for example, means the report reaches Ofsted before the end of April. This applies even when no children are living in the home.^[3] The framework adds that it is the independent person's responsibility to submit the report to Ofsted.^[3] Check with your independent person how they are doing it, because Ofsted says a failure to submit reports can lead to an inspection being rescheduled.^[3]

How should a manager respond to the findings?

Ofsted's framework recognises that most providers wish to see and comment on the report, including its recommendations. The process it describes is:^[3]

1. The provider comments on the report and recommendations, and returns the report to the independent person.
2. The independent person decides whether to change the report to reflect those comments.
3. The independent person then sends the report to Ofsted.

Ofsted says no alterations or amendments should be made to the report by anyone else, other than the provider's response to the recommendations and a summary of the report. The independent person should tell Ofsted if they think the provider has tried to make amendments that are not consistent with their findings, and if Ofsted has reasonable cause to believe a report has been altered by anyone other than the independent person, it will consider further action.^[3]

That gives a manager a clear division. The findings are the independent person's. The response is yours. Practical steps that fit the regulation:

• Read it the day it arrives. If it raises a concern about a child's safety, act on that first. The framework says an independent person with serious concerns should contact Ofsted immediately, so you should expect that call.^[3]
• Answer each recommendation. The report can set timescales within which you must consider whether to take the recommended action.^[1] Record, for each, whether you will act, what you will do, who owns it, and when, or why you have decided not to.
• Check for notifiable events. If a finding turns out to be an event under Regulation 40, such as an allegation of abuse, notify as that regulation requires. See our guide to Regulation 40 notifications.
• Tell the responsible individual. The regulation sends them a copy, so they will see the same findings you do.^[1]
• Follow it up next month. The next visit is the natural place to show what changed. Keep your responses where the independent person and an inspector can find them.
• Feed it into the six-monthly review. Ofsted looks at both sets of reports, and the quality of care review is the place to show learning from the monthly visits.^[3]

Our guide to management oversight covers how these responses fit into the manager's wider record of oversight.

How do inspectors use Regulation 44 reports?

Ofsted's framework lists the monthly visit reports among the information inspectors look at before an inspection, and among the sources taken into account in scheduling. Inspectors must focus on the content and the quality of the reports as part of evaluating how well the home monitors its impact on children's experiences, and how effectively it applies learning from incidents.^[3] Concerns in the reports, or a failure to submit them, can lead to inspections being rescheduled, and a failure to cover each building of a multi-building home is likely to result in further action.^[3]

How a care system can help

In ARC, the home records the visit with the visitor's name and email address, the visit date and the report the visitor sent. A manager writes their comments into the visitor's own report outside ARC, uploads the edited file, and ARC emails the commented report back to the visitor. Sending locks the record, and the card shows who commented and when. The report's contents are not placed in the email's subject or body. When a visit is recorded, ARC also captures the home's current published Statement of Purpose and the number of children in placement.

ARC does not choose or check the independence of the visitor and does not schedule the next visit. Getting the report to Ofsted, as described above, is a separate step. The help guide to Regulation 44 visits shows each step. If you are choosing a system, our buyer's guide to children's home software explains what to look for in inspection and reporting tools, and our supplier comparisons and published prices cover the rest of the decision.

Common questions

How often must the independent person visit? At least once each month.

Can the visit be unannounced? Yes. The regulation says a visit may be unannounced.

Can the responsible individual act as the independent person? No. Regulation 43 says the provider may not appoint the responsible individual, if one is nominated.

Does the visit have to happen if no children are living in the home? Ofsted's framework says the requirement to send the report to Ofsted still applies when there are no children living in the home.

Can a manager change the independent person's report? No. A provider can comment and respond to the recommendations, and the independent person decides whether to amend the report. Ofsted says nobody else should alter it.

How is this different from a Regulation 45 review? The independent person writes the Regulation 44 report. The registered person writes the Regulation 45 review, at least once every six months. Our Regulation 45 guide includes a free Word template.

Sources

1. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 44, Independent person: visits and reports. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/44 Checked 31 October 2026.
2. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 43, Independent person. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/43 Checked 31 October 2026.
3. Ofsted, Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): children's homes, including "Analysis and planning", "Scheduling" and "Reports under regulations 44 and 45". https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-common-inspection-framework-sccif-childrens-homes/social-care-common-inspection-framework-sccif-childrens-homes Checked 31 October 2026.
4. Department for Education, Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards (version 1.17), "Visits by an independent person". https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-homes-regulations-including-quality-standards-guide Checked 31 October 2026.