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Stephensons has a team of specialist regulatory lawyers who provide advice and representation to registered early years, childcare, education and social care providers in relation to compliance, inspections, enforcement action and appeals to the first-tier tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber).
Our specialist Ofsted lawyers understand the intense pressure on providers to comply with the vast and complex regulations governing regulated settings, whilst ensuring that children are suitably protected and safeguarded. We appreciate how a negative inspection report, or any potential enforcement action, can affect your business significantly and, in many cases, unfairly so.
It is important to protect your business and reputation with legal advice from a specialist before you take any action. Defending you and your business is our primary concern. For a confidential, no-obligation discussion regarding your case, please contact our specialist regulatory lawyers now on 0161 696 6250.
Our firm has developed an excellent reputation in this field and we pride ourselves on achieving the best possible results for our clients. We have successfully defended and represented numerous providers across a variety of sectors, assisting them in retaining their registration, challenging an inspection report or unfair grading, and avoiding criminal prosecution.
We have a network of offices across the country, including in London and Manchester, and we act for clients nationwide. We appreciate that Ofsted often impose tight deadlines and we regularly prepare cases at very short notice. We also understand the needs and anxieties of our professional clients at risk of losing their registration and in some cases, their business and reputation.
We recognise that Ofsted enforcement action, and even inspections, can be a stressful and frustrating time and our experience allows us to provide clear and strategic advice at all stages.
Our specialist team of lawyers have experience of advising registered providers in early years, childcare, education and social care sectors. We represent nurseries, childcare providers, children’s homes, schools, colleges, adoption and fostering agencies, and managers.
Our Ofsted lawyers regularly act for providers nationwide in relation to the following:
Take a look at our Ofsted case studies and find out how we have helped childcare providers, education providers and social care providers in England and Wales to challenge Ofsted and helped them through proceedings before the first-tier tribunal.
If you require Ofsted advice or support in relation to any of the above, you should seek specialist legal advice as soon as possible in order to protect your interests. For a confidential discussion with a member of our team, please contact us on 0161 696 6250 or complete our online enquiry form.
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Ofsted compliance & regulation specialist Francesca Snape talks about why an organisation may need to challenge an Ofsted inspection or report. Francesca provides guidance on how to prepare a complaint, the process of making a complaint and why professional legal advice is vital.
"It is really important that providers get the complaint right. It can be the difference between having a positive or a negative outcome. So it's really important that if you are considering making a complaint, that you do seek legal advice. From the outset, we can prepare that complaint on your behalf. We can liaise with Ofsted on your behalf and we can take some of that pressure off you and make sure that the process is handled correctly." - Francesca Snape
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Ofsted Early Years Inspections: When will they recommence and what will they look like?
On 17 March 2020, Ofsted suspended all routine inspections of early years settings, save for where urgent visits were required due to concerns raised about a setting. Originally, Ofsted had hoped to recommence full inspections from January 2021, however...
Regulatory Twitter Block
@Regulatory_Team
This year ‘Blue Monday’ falls on January 18th, in what are already challenging times we’d like to try and raise spirits a little each day with a week-long giveaway. Throughout the week we’ll be looking for nominations for donations...
Ofsted team reorder
