Set up a supported accommodation service and its premises

In ARC, supported accommodation is set up as a service with premises beneath it. The service is what you register with Ofsted. A premises is one address, such as a shared house or a self-contained flat. A company can hold children's homes and supported accommodation services together.

Choosing the service type

In the setup wizard, choose what you run: children's homes, supported accommodation, or both. A company that runs both sees every service in one list, each labelled by type, with one dashboard, one overdue list and one invoice.

The service

For the service, ARC asks for:

• its name;
• the registered service manager;
• the nominated individual;
• the categories of accommodation you are registered for, from category 1 to category 3. Supported lodgings (category 4) is not offered.

Each premises

Add each premises with:

• its address;
• its category, shown with its plain name: single occupancy (self-contained), shared for looked-after children and care leavers only, or shared and open to others;
• the number of places notified to Ofsted;
• its staffing model: staffed in shifts, or visiting.

A service that is applying to register with Ofsted can use SA Prepare while it puts its premises in order. For what each place costs, see Pricing and what you are billed for.

Who can see what

Staff in a service can see all of its premises.