Children's Home run by Holywell Children’s Services Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 1

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Holywell Children’s Services Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately operated and is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child who may have learning disabilities and/or emotional behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since the home’s registration in October 2019. The home has not had a full inspection due to the restrictions of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

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This monitoring visit

This visit took place to monitor two compliance notices that were issued following an urgent monitoring visit on 1 July 2020. At the previous visit, inspectors identified poor safeguarding arrangements and significant shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home. Two compliance notices were issued that related to safeguarding practice and leadership and management, alongside 10 requirements.

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This monitoring visit

During this visit, inspectors found that the compliance notices had not been met. The manager was unable to evidence that staff: had suitable insight into the procedures and processes for recording and reporting concerns; that staff understand how to manage risk and keep children safe; that rotas are kept up to date; and that there are sufficiently experienced staff on duty to meet children and young people’s needs.

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This monitoring visit

Training for all staff in areas such as child sexual exploitation, county lines, missing from home, self-harm, contextual safeguarding and reporting, and report writing has not been delivered. The manager was reliant upon a training matrix that was found to be factually incorrect. Staff had been recorded as having completed training when no evidence could be provided that it had taken place. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 2 Staff meetings, that had been organised to support staff learning and knowledge- base, had been cancelled. One staff meeting had taken place and included attendees who are not allocated to this home. Three core staff from the home did not attend.

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This monitoring visit

Supervision of staff is inconsistent. The registered manager has failed to provide some staff with regular supervision in line with the provider’s own policies and procedures. The lack of effective supervision means that staff are not being provided with an opportunity to reflect on their practice and identify any further training they may need. Although the manager has updated and revised the proforma for supervision, the manager could not evidence that staff’s knowledge base or understanding had been tested.

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This monitoring visit

Staff rotas were not reflective of staff who had worked the shifts. This prevents a clear audit trail of who is working in the setting. The lack transparency of who is on duty potentially places children and young people at risk of harm and compromises the continuity of care.

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This monitoring visit

It was found that a member of staff had worked shifts at the home prior to their formal start date, without induction or clear understanding of the young person’s needs or care plan. The manager failed to appreciate the potential safeguarding risks incurred in this type of practice.

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This monitoring visit

This member of staff then completed an induction and shadowed shifts with another member of staff who is inexperienced in working in children’s homes. This means that staff are not supported adequately in their roles or monitored effectively to ensure that their practice is safe and appropriate.

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This monitoring visit

The manager stated that staff have not been working at the home since the last child was discharged and that there were insufficient experienced staff to cover the rota.

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This monitoring visit

Staff recruitment was found to be weak. There was no audit trail of references being verified, gaps in employment being explored and accounted for, and previous concerns regarding employment history had not been risk assessed or understood by the manager. The manager failed to understand the potential risks to children and young people through this type of poor practice.

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This monitoring visit

Records demonstrate further concerns about the support in place for the child prior to their placement ending. The child was consistently leaving the home throughout the night for cigarettes and taking them from people passing in the street. No actions were put in place to minimise these risk factors and risk assessments were not updated. In addition, when the child complained of being unwell, no medical attention or advice was sought by staff.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager and staff do not demonstrate an understanding of their roles in relation to safeguarding children. They did not respond appropriately to Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 3 incidents that occurred or implement effective strategies to safeguard and protect the child living in the home. In addition, poor risk management and unsafe practice placed the child at unnecessary risk.

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This monitoring visit

Although the manager has developed internal audit and monitoring tools, these have not yet been utilised or tested. The shortfalls identified during this visit illustrate poor managerial oversight.

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This monitoring visit

There continues to be a lack of effective monitoring to demonstrate that the manager has a clear overview of incidents in the home or evaluates the care offered to young people and its impact on their outcomes. This means that the manager is unable to identify and address shortfalls in staff practice or improve the service being provided.

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This monitoring visit

Following the visit, the provider chose to temporarily close the home so that steps could be taken to improve the quality of care provided. Requirements that were not met at this visit have been reissued.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement N/A Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 4

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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, the 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

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

that they use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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 (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)) 30/11/20

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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— 30/11/20 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 5 mutual respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour, and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 6 the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(d)(e)) 30/11/20

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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;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 30/11/20 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(b)(ii)(d)) 30/11/20 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 8 The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revision and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 16 (1)(3)(a)(b)(5)) 30/11/20

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (‘the behaviour management policy’) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 30/11/20 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 9 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within five days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)(2)(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; 30/11/20 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 10 ensure that the records are kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the records include a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, a record of the actual rotas worked, and a record of any persons who work at any time at the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 30/11/20

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 11 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: Holywell Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Dalton House, 9 Dalton Square, Lancaster, Lancashire LA1 1WD

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Inspectors

Pauline Yates, social care inspector Michelle Edge, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2519196 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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

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