Regulation 19(1) prohibits any measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to regulation 19(2). Regulation 19(2) then lists ten measures that may never be used to discipline a child, whatever the circumstances and however proportionate they may feel at the time.
Two exceptions apply under 19(3): action taken by or on the instructions of a doctor or dentist to protect the child's health, and action necessary to prevent injury to any person or serious damage to property.
Most discussion of behaviour management in children's homes focuses on restraint, which is governed by regulation 20 and recorded under regulation 35. Regulation 19 covers different ground and gets far less attention: the everyday consequences, sanctions and house rules that shape daily life.
It matters because several of the ten prohibited measures describe things that still happen in homes, usually with good intentions and often written into a behaviour policy as though they were ordinary practice.
How regulation 19 is framed
Regulation 19(1) sets a general standard before it sets any list. No measure of control or discipline may be used which is excessive, unreasonable, or contrary to the list in 19(2). That first limb matters: a measure can be outside the prohibited list and still breach the regulation because it is disproportionate to the behaviour it responds to.
The list in 19(2) is then absolute. These are not measures to be used sparingly or with authorisation. They may not be used at all.
The ten prohibited measures
Regulation 19(2) provides that the following may not be used to discipline any child:
- any form of corporal punishment;
- any punishment involving the consumption or deprivation of food or drink;
- any restriction on contact with parents, relatives or friends, on visits from them, on communications with the persons listed in regulation 22, or on access to any internet-based or telephone helpline providing counselling for children, other than a restriction imposed by a court or in accordance with regulation 22;
- the use or withholding of medication, or of medical or dental treatment;
- the intentional deprivation of sleep;
- imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement to pay a reasonable sum, which may be by instalments, by way of reparation;
- any intimate physical examination;
- withholding any aids or equipment needed by a disabled child;
- any measure involving a child imposing a measure against another child; and
- any measure involving punishing a group of children for the behaviour of an individual.
Collective punishment
This is the prohibition most often breached in practice. "Nobody is going out tonight because of what happened this afternoon" and "the games console is off for the whole house this week" are collective punishments, and regulation 19(2)(j) prohibits them outright. They are common because they feel efficient and because they mirror how some staff were parented. Neither makes them lawful.
There is a genuine distinction worth holding on to. A decision that affects the whole group because it is a proportionate response to a risk is not the same as a punishment imposed on the group. Cancelling a trip because the staffing needed to run it safely is not available is an operational decision. Cancelling the same trip to make a point after one child's behaviour is a collective punishment. The difference lies in the reason, which is exactly why the reason needs recording.
Financial penalties and reparation
Regulation 19(2)(f) permits one narrow thing and prohibits the rest. A home may require the payment of a reasonable sum by way of reparation, and that payment may be made by instalments. It may not impose a financial penalty of any other kind.
The practical boundary sits around whether the sum relates to actual damage or loss and whether it is reasonable in the context of the child's income. Requiring a young person to contribute a proportionate amount towards a window they deliberately broke, agreed with them and paid in instalments, is reparation. Deducting pocket money as a general sanction for behaviour is a financial penalty. So is a sum so large in relation to the child's allowance that it is punitive in effect, whatever it is called.
Contact, communications and helplines
Regulation 19(2)(c) prohibits using contact as a disciplinary lever. A child's contact with parents, relatives and friends may only be restricted by a court, or in accordance with regulation 22, which permits the registered person to impose conditions or restrictions where necessary to safeguard or promote the child's welfare, and only with the placing authority's consent, or in an emergency with full details given to the placing authority within 24 hours.
The prohibition also covers access to internet-based or telephone counselling helplines. A child must never lose access to a helpline as a consequence of their behaviour, which has an obvious safeguarding logic behind it: the moments when a child most needs an independent line out are often the moments after something has gone wrong.
This is also where blanket device rules need care. A house rule that removes phones as a sanction risks cutting off both family contact and helpline access at once. If devices are restricted, the reason must sit within regulation 22 and be recorded as such, not applied as a punishment.
The two exceptions
Regulation 19(3) preserves two things. Nothing in the regulation prohibits action taken by, or in accordance with the instructions of, a registered medical practitioner or registered dental practitioner which is necessary to protect the health of the child. And nothing prohibits taking action necessary to prevent injury to any person or serious damage to property.
The second exception is narrow and about necessity in the moment. It does not license using any of the ten measures as a planned consequence afterwards.
How this differs from restraint
Regulation 19 governs control and discipline. Regulation 20 governs restraint, defined in regulation 2(1) as using force or restricting liberty of movement, and permits it only to prevent injury to any person, serious damage to property, or a child absconding from a secure children's home. Restraint must be necessary and proportionate.
Both feed the same recording duty. Regulation 35(3) requires that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, discipline or restraint a record is made covering the child's name, the behaviour leading to the measure, the date, time and location, a description of the measure and its duration, the steps taken to avoid it, who used it and who else was present, its effectiveness and consequences, and any injury and treatment. Within 48 hours the registered person or an authorised person must have spoken to the person who used the measure and signed the record; within 5 days they must add confirmation that they have spoken to the child.
And it follows the child. Schedule 3 paragraph 15 requires each child's case record to include the date and circumstances of any measure of control, discipline or restraint used in relation to them. That entry carries the 75 year retention period under regulation 36, so a sanction recorded today is part of a file that child may request decades from now.
How OVcare supports behaviour management recording
OVcare is care recording software for children's homes, supported accommodation providers and family assessment centres. Measures of control, discipline and restraint are recorded against structured fields covering what regulation 35(3) requires, with the 24 hour, 48 hour and 5 day steps tracked rather than remembered.
Because entries link to the child's case record, the Schedule 3 requirement is met by the same act of recording, and managers can review patterns across a period to see whether particular sanctions are being used repeatedly or applied inconsistently. OVcare does not decide what sanction is appropriate and does not replace professional judgement, and no software can determine an inspection outcome. What it can do is support consistent recording and clearer oversight.
See how sanctions and restraint records would be tracked. Book a free demo and we will walk through behaviour management recording, manager sign-off and pattern reporting for your setting. Book a free demo.
Related reading
- What Must You Notify Ofsted About? Regulations 40, 41 and 42
- Safer Recruitment, Qualifications and Supervision
- How Long Must Children's Homes Keep Records?
About the author. Paula Martinez has spent several years writing about and researching social care in England. She writes OVcare's regulation and compliance guides, working from the current text of the Regulations and Ofsted's published guidance rather than from secondary summaries.
Sources: The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/541), regulations 19, 20, 22, 35 and 38, and Schedule 3, at legislation.gov.uk. Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, Department for Education.
This guide is provided for general information for care providers and does not constitute legal or regulatory advice. It covers Ofsted-registered children's homes in England; different requirements apply to supported accommodation under the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023, and to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Always refer to the current Regulations and take professional advice on your own circumstances.
