Frequently Asked Questions
Q. I am a provider, how long will it take me to register?
A. It will take you less than one minute to register. You will have to spend longer writing your advertisement details because obviously you want that to be an accurate reflection of the services you offer.
Q. I am a commissioner, how long will it take me to register?
A. It will take you less than one minute to register. We use your .gov.uk email address as confirmation that you are a genuine employee of a Local Authority and we give you immediate access to the database once you have registered using your.gov.uk email address.
Q. I’m a provider, why would I want to advertise my provision on Placement Portal because I am already registered with existing consortiums?
A. The various consortiums are at different stages of development and each one will have a number of providers with various services to offer registered on their database. Placement Portal is the first UK wide database that offers commissioners free access to accurate and up to date information about providers and the vacancies they have at any moment in time.
Q. I am a commissioner, why would I want to access information about placement vacancies on Placement Portal when I am a member of a consortium?
A. Finding the placement that best fits the needs of a young person and is most likely to meet the desired outcomes for the young person requires that commissioners search all available placements against a set of criteria relevant to the young person. Only searching the most local placements, only searching for suitable children’s homes or only searching for available foster placements limits the possibility of considering all the available alternatives that might best meet the needs of the young person. Placement Portal prides itself on advertising a range of placement types, each offering specialist services that could be helpful in trying to meet the needs of young people.
Q. What are the costs to commissioners of using Placement Portal?
A. None. There are no costs to commissioners when using Placement Portal. We believe that ‘introduction fees’, ‘fees on placement’, ‘negotiation fees’ and all fees that less scrupulous organisations charge to commissioners, are inappropriate. Such charges impact upon the ability of commissioners to meet the costs of paying for the best placement and upon the young person who may be denied the best placement as a result of such charges.
Q. How does Placement Portal offer such a high quality service when it does not charge commissioners?
A. Placement Portal charges a sensible and realistic fee to those providers who choose to use the website to advertise their provision and the services they offer.
Q. What benefits do providers get when they pay to use Placement Portal?
A. Providers can advertise their provision and services in great detail and in ‘real time’. Providers are responsible for all the information they place in their adverts and the word allowances are extremely generous when compared to less interactive methods of advertising. Providers are able to access, edit and update the information that commissioners see about them on a daily or even hourly basis. This allows providers to let people know as soon as a vacancy arises.
Q. We have our own website, can we provide a link to our website within our advertisement on Placement Portal?
A. Yes. Placement Portal is keen to provide assistance to our partner providers in selling their provision and services. We believe that commissioners should be able to deal direct with providers and negotiate about the services they need, which is why we also provide direct contact details for each provider. Other organisations seek to place themselves between commissioners and providers, acting as a go between and often expect to be paid for doing so. Placement Portal is open and honest in all its relationships and actively encourages commissioners and providers to engage in dialogue in order to find the best placement to meet the needs of the young person.
Q. I am a provider, can I access information on other providers, or more to the point, can other providers access information on my service?
A. No. As a provider you only have access to your own page and details. Only commissioners can use the search facility once they have registered with their .gov.uk email address. If anyone attempts to register with a non .gov.uk email address, they will not be allowed access to the search facility and as such they will not be able to view any information about providers and the services they offer.
Q. I am a provider. Can I include the cost of placement on my advertisement?
A. Your advertisement and the information it carries is your responsibility. If you wish to include costings on your advertisement then you are able to. However, one of the aims of Placement Portal is to encourage commissioners to find the most suitable placements on the basis of meeting the needs of the young person rather than on the basis of cost.
Q. I am a commissioner. I understand how you will ensure that only bona-fide Local Authority commissioners can use the search engine by using their .gov.uk email addresses. How do I know that the providers whose advertisements you carry are equally as genuine?
A. Placement Portal is committed to only representing genuine providers. When providers register their details with us, we ask that they either upload their certificate of registration or send it to us through the post. Only when that has been verified will providers be able to advertise their provision and services. We are keen to work with both commissioners and providers and you will see that whenever you use the site there are frequent opportunities for you to provide feedback. If you as a provider have any concerns about a provider, you should in the first instance speak with the registering body. If you wish to provide feedback about the accuracy of any advertisement on the site, we are happy to receive your comments and act upon them. The welfare and safety of children and young people is our paramount concern and we want to work together in order to ensure that we are all partners in promoting that ethic.
Q. What motivated you to set up Placement Portal?
A. We have worked with children and young people in various settings (See our ‘about us’ page.) and we have always believed that each young person, irrespective of their background, has a right to live in an environment that meets their needs, in which they feel safe, are respected and have the opportunity to work through any difficulties they may have in order to achieve their true potential. As improvements to services take place through rigorous inspection and the expectations upon commissioners to make high quality placements that meet the needs of each child increase, we feel that there needs to be a website that allows good service providers to reach all commissioners and all commissioners to have access to all placements available with good service providers. We believe that by providing up to date, relevant information, the website will encourage commissioners to consider a wider range of service providers, thus maximising the choice available to young people in need. This, in turn will, we hope lead to much greater stability within placement and therefore enable young people to benefit from more positive outcomes. Young people are our future and we owe them a debt of responsibility. We wish to help meet the needs of young people and improve outcomes for them.
