Concerns have been raised over unregulated children’s homes operating in Havering.

Three are currently operating in the borough that are unlicensed by the standards agency Ofsted.

There is no legal minimum standard for unregulated accommodation, so their quality can vary. The operators can also only provide ‘support,’ and not the sort of care the children would receive in a regulated setting.

Mandy Anderson, a Labour councillor in the Heaton ward, raised the issue at a full council meeting on Wednesday (September 4).

She said that “complex situations” had arisen at two of the unnamed homes situated in her ward.

Councillor Oscar Ford, the cabinet member for children and young people, said the council did not commission such homes but officers were “keeping an eye”.

He said: “Havering officers are keeping an eye on the situation, but the children are under the protection of the relevant authorities, so they have responsibility too.”

All three had since applied to Ofsted and were being assisted by Havering Council’s children’s services.

Cllr Ford added that there was a “good deal of oversight” over the homes.

The National Youth Advocacy Service has called for unregulated children’s homes to be banned, as a way to protect young people.

It told the Department for Education to ban the use of unlicensed accommodation for all children, including teenagers.

The charity said: “Accommodation providers must be accountable. They should be subjected to independent regulation by Reg.44 visitors and inspection by Ofsted.

“Any new standards for accommodation must be enforceable, enshrined in legislation or statutory instruments.”

One of the biggest strains on Havering’s finances are children’s services and providing care for young people in the borough.

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The council’s planning committee recently debated whether a residential property in Hornchurch should be allowed to operate as a children’s home.

Though the planning team had backed the scheme for the Ofsted-regulated home, 47 out of the 54 residents consulted objected to the change of use.

A separate scheme to turn a home in Station Lane into a facility for up to three children was allowed to go ahead earlier this month.

In 2022/23, councils across England placed 706 children in unregulated homes due to a shortage of places in other childcare providers.