Children's home run by Park Lane Residential Home Limited in Brent

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 1 SC050124

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Park Lane Residential Home Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home, which provides care and accommodation for up to five young people. The statement of purpose notes that the home provides care to young people with multifaceted needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager for two years.

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this monitoring visit was to review the effectiveness of the actions that the provider has taken to meet the statutory compliance notice dated 19 June 2019. This compliance notice was issued by Ofsted to the registered provider under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000, following the full inspection of the home on 10 June 2019.

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This monitoring visit

The compliance notice related to the provider’s failure to appoint a manager. The provider was required to ensure that the following regulation is met.

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(England) Regulations 2015

The provider was specifically required to appoint a manager and inform Ofsted of the name of the person that they had appointed and the date on which the appointment took effect.

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(England) Regulations 2015

At this monitoring visit, the inspector examined documentation and spoke with the registered provider and a director of the company.

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(England) Regulations 2015

The visit concluded that the provider had not met the statutory compliance notice. However, the provider had taken appropriate action to do so, and continues to work Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 2 toward ensuring that the compliance notice is met in the near future.

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(England) Regulations 2015

The provider has taken appropriate steps to recruit a suitable manager for the children’s home. For example, an advertisement had been placed on a social care website. The provider had also contacted employment agencies and used their contacts within the residential social care professional network.

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(England) Regulations 2015

The provider was able to demonstrate that they had received four written applications in response to their recent recruitment drive, although the provider said that three of these applications would not meet the criteria for a registered manager as defined under regulation 28. The candidates lacked appropriate qualifications and experience.

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(England) Regulations 2015

The inspector saw written records of the interviews that have already taken place.

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(England) Regulations 2015

The provider showed the inspector further evidence of suitably qualified applicants who had confirmed their attendance for forthcoming interviews.

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(England) Regulations 2015

Ofsted will continue to monitor the provider’s progress in appointing a manager for the home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 10/06/2019 Full Inadequate 29/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 28/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this is in relation to consulting with the placing authority about any deliberate delays in the implementation of actions that have been mutually agreed. 01/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to— ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

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; help each child to express views, wishes and feelings; 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; help each child to understand how the child’s privacy will be respected and the circumstances when it may have to be limited; 01/09/2019 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 4 ensure that each child is given appropriate advocacy support; ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(b)(i)(iii)(d)(iii)) The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This is with reference to ensuring that the home offers young people constructive and educational activity when they are not in school. 01/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the home should ensure that young people contribute to the development of their own risk management and behaviour support plans. 01/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are 01/09/2019 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 5 protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, any removable hazards from the garden must be removed and the fire exits must be unobstructed. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the home must ensure that the staff receive training in behaviour management and physical interventions. 01/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous 01/09/2019 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 6 improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (5)) 01/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must— provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b)) 07/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(2)(a)(b)) * 07/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 01/09/2019 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 7 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (‘the quality of care review report’).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this review must provide a clear evaluation and evidence-based analysis of the events that have happened during the review period. 01/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2)) 01/09/2019 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 8 Specifically, the information about gangs in the area must inform the locality risk assessment.

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  A child’s bedroom should not generally be entered without their permission, though it may be necessary to establish routines to allow for rooms to be cleaned regularly. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 16/17, paragraph 3.20)

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Recommendations

 Staff should take account of information provided by return home interviews following episodes when a child has been missing. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 46/47, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed

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Recommendations

needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. The Statement of Purpose is an important document in the process of care planning as it sets out the needs of children the home is set up and equipped to care for. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4).

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 9 The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Park Lane Residential Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Brook Avenue, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 8PH

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Inspector:

Juanita Mayers, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC050124 10 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector:

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Inspector:

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Inspector:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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