Start with the agreed placement, not a fresh headline fee
A weekly placement price may already include a staffing pattern, waking-night cover, management, activities and a contingency. Pull out the signed placement agreement, any schedule of needs, the current care and risk plans, the last approved rota and the latest invoices. Mark which staff hours are already paid for. A request that recosts the entire rota as “enhanced” will be harder to reconcile and may count the same hours twice.
This article concerns a proposed change in the placement fee, meaning what the placing authority pays for this child's support. It does not concern an Ofsted fee for changing a home's registration conditions. The Ofsted variation-fee guidance covers that separate registration process.
Record what changed and why the rota must change
The registered manager should identify the changed need and the support response with the placing authority. Record when it began, the relevant risk or incident evidence, the child's views where appropriate, the additional hours by time of day, required skills, and the expected duration. Keep sensitive information in the proper care record, not in an open finance spreadsheet. The finance schedule can refer to a secure record identifier.
The Department for Education's children's homes guide says staffing levels should meet the needs of children and respond flexibly to unexpected events. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 also require reasonable continuity of care where temporary staff are used. Those duties inform the staffing decision; they do not set a national tariff or make an uplift automatic. For agency cover, check suitability and records against Ofsted's recruiting guidance.
The placing authority's placement plan is a separate control. Under the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, it sets out how the placement will meet the child's needs. If support has changed materially, ask the social worker and commissioner to align the plan, the practical staffing arrangement and the commercial decision. Do not treat a finance request as a substitute for a care review.
Build an authorised additional staffing cost schedule
Consider an illustrative request for ten extra one-to-one support hours a day over seven days, or 70 hours a week. At an assumed £16 contractual hourly wage, with a 30% planning allowance for employer costs and paid leave, the modelled hourly cost is £20.80 and direct labour is £1,456. Add £120 for incremental supervision and £74 for other attributable costs. The weekly addition is £1,650. If an extra £1,800 is agreed, the remaining £150 is a contribution towards wider overhead and risk, not net profit. These are worked numbers, not market rates or statutory allowances.
| Additional item | Basis to evidence | Illustrative weekly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Extra paid support | 70 hours × £16 | £1,120 |
| Employment planning allowance | 30% × £1,120 | £336 |
| Extra supervision | Named incremental hours | £120 |
| Other direct costs | Documented additional items | £74 |
| Total addition | Do not include base-funded rota | £1,650 |
| Proposed uplift | Subject to written agreement | £1,800 |
Before asking for the amount, stress-test the rota. If 14 of the 70 hours must be covered by agency workers at £28 an hour instead of the modelled £20.80, the incremental cost rises by £100.80 to £1,750.80. At a fixed £1,800 uplift, the residual contribution falls to £49.20. Check agency terms, minimum shift charges, handovers, transport and whether extra supervision is already funded. Do not describe an assumed margin as an observed result.
Get an actual fee decision, with dates and authority
Send the care rationale and finance schedule through the agreed secure route. State the current fee, exact extra support, requested weekly or daily addition, start date, whether the amount is temporary, and the proposed review date. Ask who has authority to agree the commercial variation and who will update the placement plan. A social worker's acknowledgement of the need may not be the same as approval of the extra charge. Keep the signed terms and the decision email or purchase order together.
If immediate safety needs arise before the price is agreed, the registered manager should use the home's safeguarding and escalation arrangements, inform the placing authority and record the care action. Finance should pursue the variation promptly under the contract's emergency and change clauses. Do not promise that an unsigned uplift will be recoverable. Nor should an unresolved fee dispute lead to an abrupt change in support for a child already placed.
| Decision record | What to confirm | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Care evidence | Changed need, support hours and review point | Registered manager and placing authority |
| Cost schedule | Additional shifts, actual cost and base-fee exclusion | Finance and operations |
| Commercial variation | Amount, effective date, payment terms and sign-off | Authorised commissioner |
| Invoice evidence | Agreed line, covered dates and reference | Billing team |
Review the support and bill what was authorised
At the agreed review, compare planned and actual shifts, the child's needs, incidents, agency use and the placement plan. Decide with the placing authority whether support continues, changes or steps down, then update the fee dates to match. A time-limited uplift should not drift into an open-ended invoice line. The Ofsted inspection framework for children's homes looks at the effectiveness and continuity of staffing arrangements, so retain the care reasoning as well as the commercial record.
Bill using the agreed description and effective dates, reconcile the invoice to the authorisation and follow up any short payment against that record. In monthly management accounts, show the enhanced staffing income alongside its added labour and agency costs. That keeps a temporary support decision visible rather than burying it in the home's base margin. LOYALS works with care operators on these reconciliations across London and the UK, using the signed terms and actual rota rather than a generic price-per-bed assumption.