Children's Home run by Bay View Child Care Limited in Lancashire

Unique reference number SC463926 Inspector Gillian Walters Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Bay View Child Care Limited Registered person address 3-5 Dalton Square Lancaster Lancashire LA1 1PP

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Responsible individual Martin Richard Horner Registered manager Paul Andrew Johnson Date of last inspection 30/01/2014 2 of 6 Inspection date 06/05/2014

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Previous inspection outstanding Enforcement action since last inspection None

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This inspection

This home was judged outstanding at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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This inspection

Young people enjoy the comfort of a home that is well designed and maintained to meet their needs. They value the excellent relationships that they share with staff and speak highly of the care and attention they receive. As a result young people are settled and well engaged with staff in working towards their own personal goals. One young person commented, ‘This is a good home. I love it.’ Another said, ‘This is the best home I have been in.’

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This inspection

Young people are consistently supported in their learning and as a result are continuing to make excellent progress in relation to their starting points. They receive consistent encouragement to participate in a range of recreational activities that provide them with good opportunities for fun and physical exercise. Young people’s achievements are always celebrated to recognise and reinforce the progress that they are making. Consequently, the home is successful in promoting young people’s self-esteem and personal self-confidence.

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This inspection

Young people feel safe and well supported in this home and are continuing to make steady progress in all areas of their development. Young people do still go missing from the home on occasions. However, the frequency of this has declined somewhat and young people identify that it is a wish to be elsewhere rather than a dislike of the home that causes them to leave. Staff are proactive when such events occur. They work in close partnership with the police and follow agreed procedure to promote the young people’s early and safe return. However, the home’s policy and procedures have not been updated to take account of the steps to be followed to prevent young people being missing or absent without permission. This means staff do not have the benefit of documented guidance to know the actions and strategies they should be following to prevent young people’s unauthorised absence from the home. 3 of 6 The home works hard to ensure that young people placed from local authorities

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This inspection

other than the one they are living in are not disadvantaged by the distance from their home area. Staff maintain regular communication with social workers and family members and support and facilitate young people’s visits to family members and friends. This enables young people to retain positive links with their home community and those people that are most important to them.

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This inspection

The home has maintained the quality of its internal and external monitoring arrangements. Consequently, the manager and his staff share a clear understanding of where progress is being made and where further development is required. However, during this inspection it was noted that the manager does not routinely carry out exit interviews when staff leave the service. This means that a good opportunity is being missed to illicit feedback from staff that would assist with the home’s ongoing improvement planning.

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This inspection

Managers and staff recognise the value of the multi-agency approach. They are proactive in developing relationships with other professionals to ensure young people have good access to a range of support and specialist services to meet their individual needs. As a result, young people are effectively supported by staff who successfully challenge and advocate on their behalf to ensure they achieve positive outcomes. 4 of 6

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of two owned and managed by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) prepare and implement a missing child policy that specifically sets out the steps to be taken to prevent children from being absent without permission. This will also include the procedures to be followed in such an event (Regulation 16(4)(b)) 24/06/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

5 (2001) revise the statement of purpose and children's guide to include detail of the missing child policy and notify Ofsted of this revision within 28 days. (Regulation 5(a) & (b)) 24/06/2014

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure as a fair and competent employer that good support and sound employment practices are operated. This relates specifically to providing staff with the opportunity of an exit interview when they leave to feedback their experience and contribute to the continuous development of the service. (NM 5 of 6 19.1) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

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