The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard
7.—(1) The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—
(a)develop positive relationships with them;
(b)engage with them; and
(c)take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.
(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—
(a)ensure that staff—
(i)ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;
(ii)help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;
(iii)help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;
(iv)regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care;
(v)help each child to understand how the child’s privacy will be respected and the circumstances when it may have to be limited;
(vi)help each child to prepare for any review of the child’s relevant plans and to make the child’s views, wishes and feelings known for the purposes of that review; and
(vii)make each child aware of and, if necessary, remind them of each of the matters in sub-paragraph (d)(i) to (iii);
(b)ensure that each child—
(i)is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;
(ii)has access to the home’s children’s guide, and the home’s complaints procedure, when the child’s placement in the home is agreed and throughout the child’s stay in the home; and
(iii)is given appropriate advocacy support;
(c)keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document;
(d)ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—
(i)the children’s guide;
(ii)how to make a complaint or representations in relation to the home or the care the child receives and how any such complaint or representations will be dealt with; and
(iii)what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision; and
(e)ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child.