Terms and conditions
Last updated: 1 August 2026
1. About us and these terms
This website is operated by GUIDED STEPS LTD (“Guided Steps”, “we”, “us”, “our”), a company registered in England and Wales.
Registered company number
16357987
Registered office
15a Marsh Mill, Thornton-Cleveleys, England, FY5 4JZ
Telephone
Regulator
Registered with Ofsted as a supported accommodation provider under the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023
These terms and conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of this website and the way in which referrals and enquiries are submitted to us through it.
By using this website you confirm that you accept these Terms and agree to comply with them. If you do not accept these Terms, please do not use this website.
These Terms govern use of the website only. They do not govern the provision of accommodation or support services. Where a placement is agreed, it is governed by a separate written placement agreement and any applicable framework or contract between us and the placing local authority.
2. Changes to these terms and to the site
We may amend these Terms at any time by updating this page. Please check this page from time to time; the “last updated” date above shows when the most recent change was made. Continuing to use the website after a change means you accept the revised Terms.
We may update, suspend, withdraw or restrict all or part of the website without notice. We do not guarantee that the website, or any content on it, will always be available or uninterrupted, and we are not liable to you if the website is unavailable for any period.
You are responsible for making sure that everyone accessing the website through your internet connection or organisation is aware of these Terms and complies with them.
3. Who this website is for
This website is intended primarily for local authority commissioners, placement officers, social workers, leaving care teams and other professionals considering a placement with Guided Steps. Some content is also intended for young people, families, carers and prospective employees.
The website is directed at users in the United Kingdom. We make no representation that content is appropriate or available for use outside the UK.
This website is not a source of professional, legal, social work, medical or safeguarding advice. Content is provided for general information only. You should not act, or refrain from acting, on the basis of anything on this website without obtaining appropriate professional advice.
4. Referrals
4.1 How referrals are made
Referrals are made by email to referrals@guidedsteps.co.uk. This website does not process, store or transmit referral information — it directs you to email us.
4.2 A referral is not an offer or a contract
Submitting a referral does not create any contract between you and Guided Steps and does not oblige us to offer or hold a placement.
Information on this website about our homes, capacity, availability, categories of support or fees is provided for general information. It is an invitation to enquire, not an offer capable of acceptance, and does not form part of any contract.
A placement is only agreed once:
we have completed our own assessment of the referral, including a matching and risk assessment against the needs of young people already living in the home; and
a written placement agreement has been signed by both parties, or a placement has been confirmed in writing by an authorised representative of Guided Steps.
We may decline any referral, and we are not obliged to give reasons. We will always tell you promptly if we cannot accept a referral so that alternative arrangements can be made.
4.3 Response times
We aim to respond to referrals within 48 hours. Our normal working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England.
This is a target, not a contractual guarantee. Response times may be affected by circumstances outside our control.
4.4 Email is not a secure channel — please read
Standard email is not a secure method of transmitting confidential or sensitive information. Emails may be delayed, intercepted, misdirected, corrupted or fail to arrive.
When making a referral, you must:
send only the minimum information necessary for us to assess whether we can meet the young person’s needs and offer a safe placement;
not send unnecessary identifying detail at initial enquiry stage — initials, age, gender and a summary of need are normally sufficient for us to indicate whether we have suitable capacity;
use a secure email route where one is available to you (for example, an @*.gov.uk to secure-mailbox route, or your authority’s approved secure transfer or portal system) before sending care plans, risk assessments, EHC plans, health information, chronologies, court documents or any other detailed records;
ensure you have the lawful basis and, where required, the authority or consent to share the information with us; and
check the address is correct before sending.
If you are unsure whether it is appropriate to send something by email, contact us first on 07572 948658 and we will agree a secure route with you.
We accept no liability for loss, interception, delay, non-delivery or unauthorised access to information sent to us by unsecured email, except to the extent caused by our own negligence or breach of our data protection obligations.
4.5 Accuracy of referral information
You must ensure that information provided in a referral is accurate, complete and not misleading, including all known risks, safeguarding history, health needs and any information relevant to the safety of the young person, of other young people in the home, and of our staff.
We rely on the accuracy of referral information when making placement decisions. Withholding or misrepresenting material information may result in a placement being declined, ended or terminated in accordance with the placement agreement.
4.6 This is not an emergency or safeguarding reporting route
Do not use this website, our referral inbox or any other email address to report an emergency, a crisis or an immediate safeguarding concern. These are not monitored continuously and cannot guarantee an immediate response.
If a child or young person is at immediate risk of harm, call 999.
To report a safeguarding concern about a child, contact the relevant local authority children’s services or the police on 101.
To raise a concern about our service with the regulator, contact Ofsted (details in section 12).
4.7 Out-of-hours and urgent placements
We do accept emergency and out-of-hours referrals.
Emergency and out-of-hours referrals must be made by telephone on 07572 948658. Do not send an emergency or out-of-hours referral by email. Our referral inbox is monitored during working hours only, and an email sent outside those hours will not be seen until the next working day.
Once we have spoken to you, we will agree how any supporting information should be sent.
5. Data protection
We process personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Full detail of how we collect, use, share and retain personal data is set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
In summary:
Referral information. Where you refer a young person to us, the referring local authority is the controller of the information it shares with us. Once we accept a referral and a placement begins, we act as an independent controller of the personal data we hold in order to meet our own legal and regulatory duties, including our duties under the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and to Ofsted.
Special category data. Referrals routinely contain special category data, including health data, and may contain criminal offence data. We process this where necessary for the provision of social care and for reasons of substantial public interest, including safeguarding children and individuals at risk, under Articles 6 and 9 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018.
Declined referrals. Where we decline a referral, we retain only what we need for our own records of the decision and then securely delete the remaining information in line with the retention periods in our Privacy Policy.
Information sharing. Where required by a placing authority, we will enter into an information sharing agreement or data processing agreement. Nothing in these Terms overrides such an agreement, and in the event of conflict, the signed agreement takes precedence.
Your rights. You have rights over your personal data, including rights of access, rectification and erasure. To exercise them, contact us at referrals@guidedsteps.co.uk.
Complaints. You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
6. Regulatory status
Guided Steps is registered with Ofsted as a supported accommodation provider. Registration relates to the type of service we are registered to provide and is not, in itself, a quality rating.
Where this website refers to inspection outcomes, judgements or achievements, those statements relate only to what is expressly stated. Where any reference is made to the previous experience of our staff or managers, it relates to services other than Guided Steps unless we say otherwise. Our own inspection reports, once published, are available on the Ofsted website.
7. Intellectual property
We are the owner or licensee of all intellectual property rights in this website and in the material published on it, including the Guided Steps name, logo, brand and design. These are protected by copyright and trade mark laws.
You may print off one copy, and download extracts, of any page for your own internal use — for example, to share a service description within a placements team or panel. You must not modify the material in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs or graphics separately from any accompanying text.
You must not use any part of the content for commercial purposes without a licence from us. Our status as the authors of content must always be acknowledged.
Photographs of young people, staff and our homes must not be copied, reproduced or republished under any circumstances.
8. Acceptable use
You must not:
use the website in any way that breaches any applicable law or regulation, or for any unlawful or fraudulent purpose;
use the website or our contact addresses to send unsolicited marketing, spam or bulk communications;
attempt to gain unauthorised access to the website, the server on which it is stored, or any connected server, computer or database;
knowingly introduce viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other malicious material, or attack the site via a denial-of-service attack;
scrape, harvest or systematically extract data from the website, or use it to train any automated or machine learning system, without our prior written consent;
attempt to identify, contact or gather information about any young person accommodated by us; or
misuse the referral inbox, including by submitting referrals you are not authorised to make.
We will report any breach of these restrictions to the relevant law enforcement authorities and will co-operate with them by disclosing your identity. Your right to use the website will cease immediately on breach.
We do not guarantee that the website will be secure or free from bugs or viruses. You are responsible for configuring your own information technology and platform to access the website, and should use your own virus protection software.
9. Links and third-party content
Where the website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, those links are provided for information only. We have no control over the contents of those sites and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage arising from your use of them.
You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal, does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, and does not suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement where none exists. You must not frame our site on any other site.
10. Our liability
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:
death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, or in respect of our duties as a registered provider of supported accommodation.
Subject to the above:
If you are a business or public sector user (including a local authority, its employees or agents), we exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to the website or its content. We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, arising under or in connection with your use of, or inability to use, the website or reliance on any content on it — in particular for loss of profits, business, revenue, contracts, anticipated savings, goodwill, data, or any indirect or consequential loss.
If you are a consumer user, we only supply the website for domestic and private use. We are not liable for any business loss. Your statutory rights are not affected by these Terms.
Nothing in this section affects the separate obligations we owe under any placement agreement, or our statutory and regulatory duties to young people we accommodate. Those duties cannot be, and are not, limited by these website terms.
11. Content accuracy
Content on this website is provided in good faith and is kept under review, but we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that it is accurate, complete or up to date.
Details of our homes, their capacity, their availability and the categories of young person we can accommodate change frequently. Please contact us to confirm current availability rather than relying on the website.
12. Complaints and concerns
If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please contact us in the first instance at referrals@guidedsteps.co.uk or on 07572 948658. Our complaints procedure is available at guidedsteps.co.uk/policies/complaints and on request, and is available in accessible formats for young people.
Young people we accommodate have the right to make a complaint, to be supported to do so, and to access independent advocacy. Nothing on this website restricts that right.
If you remain dissatisfied, or if you have a concern about the quality or safety of our service, you can contact Ofsted directly:
Ofsted
Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD
General enquiries: 0300 123 1231
Complaints: 0300 123 4666
enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk
13. Accessibility
We aim to make this website accessible to as many people as possible and work towards WCAG 2.2 Level AA. If you have difficulty accessing any part of this site, or need information in a different format, please contact us at referrals@guidedsteps.co.uk and we will do our best to help.
14. General
Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.
Waiver. If we delay in enforcing any part of these Terms, that is not a waiver of our rights and does not prevent us from enforcing them later.
Third parties. A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of them.
Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between us in relation to your use of this website. Where a signed placement agreement or contract exists between us, that agreement takes precedence over these Terms in relation to its subject matter.
15. Governing law and jurisdiction
These Terms, their subject matter and their formation are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them.
If you are a consumer, you benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which you are resident, and you may bring proceedings in the courts of the UK nation in which you live.
16. Contact us
GUIDED STEPS LTD
15a Marsh Mill, Thornton-Cleveleys, England, FY5 4JZ
07572 948658 · referrals@guidedsteps.co.uk
Referrals: referrals@guidedsteps.co.uk
These Terms were last updated on 1 August 2026.