Children's home run by Ingleside Children’s Home Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 1 SC025799

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Ingleside Children’s Home 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 owned and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children. The home’s statement of purpose states that it is a home for children with complex social, emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2020.

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This monitoring visit

The monitoring visit was conducted to address the specific concerns raised by the independent visitor to the home and notified to Ofsted. These relate, in particular, to the reports of significant leadership and management shortfalls, alongside serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care and protection of children living in the home. Ofsted also received an anonymous complaint in relation to the anti-social behaviour of the children living in the home and their lack of supervision in the community.

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This monitoring visit

Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic this visit took place using a visit to the home, along with video and telephone calls and emails. There are currently two children living at the home.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have failed to respond to the independent visitor’s enquiries. They have failed to attend scheduled video conference calls with the independent visitor in November 2020, December 2020 and January 2021, without explanation. The independent visitor was unable to review children’s documents and records, as requested information was not received. As a result, the independent visitor could not state that the children living in the home were safeguarded effectively or that the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 2 The inspectors found that there are serious and widespread failures in the home that mean children are not protected and their welfare is not promoted. The care and experiences of children in the home are poor.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager has been absent from the home and has failed to notify Ofsted in line with regulation. There has been a lack of any effective management of the home and leaders and managers have failed to have an adequate overview of the day-to-day running of the home. Leaders, managers and staff are unable to keep children safe. As a result, children are at significant risk of harm in the home’s care.

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This monitoring visit

The inspectors found that children are not sufficiently protected from harm. Episodes of children going missing from the home have increased. When children go missing from the home or are absent without permission, staff do not know where the children are. Staff do not follow the strategies set out in the children’s risk assessments to minimise their risk of going missing from the home. The inspectors found no evidence of staff arranging or offering the children return home interviews to try and establish why they had gone missing from the home.

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This monitoring visit

When children go missing from the home, they are unsafe and at serious risk of harm. Children have been physically assaulted in the community and they have placed themselves in very unsafe environments, including lying on railway tracks and associating with unknown adults who have allegedly threatened them with a gun. Leaders and managers have failed to notify Ofsted of these serious incidents in line with regulation.

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This monitoring visit

Children’s care records are not completed. Inspectors could not find a child’s general practitioner details. Staff do not update children’s risk assessments. As a result, children’s risk assessments are not accurate, and they are out of date. This means that children’s needs or increasing risks are not assessed and there are no strategies to support staff to minimise those risks.

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This monitoring visit

Children are placed in the home without considering the impact their needs may have on children already living in the home. Matching risk assessments are not completed until after children are moved into the home and leaders and managers do not share children’s referral information with the staff team. Furthermore, the registered manager has overruled the deputy manager’s request to defer a child’s placement in the home, despite the deputy manager overseeing the home at the time.

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This monitoring visit

Without effective leadership and management in the home, staff say that they do not feel equipped to manage the children’s individual needs and challenging behaviours. Staff’s behaviour management strategies are ineffective. Without management support, staff have, at times, telephoned the children’s parents to ask them for advice, reporting that, ‘We don’t know what to do’. The deputy manager has attempted to de-escalate an incident in the home via a telephone loudspeaker. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 3 Children do not engage in their education provision. Boundaries in place in the home, such as set bedtimes or the restriction of smoking tobacco in the home, are not enforced. Children do not go to bed at their set times and they are reported to smoke and use e-cigarettes around the home. The inspectors found no evidence of any appropriate consequences imposed for these types of behaviours. Instead, staff

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This monitoring visit

locked the games room, the kitchen and the lounge as a loss of ‘privilege’ for the children. As a result, children kicked in doors to gain access. Staff interventions are ineffective and inappropriate.

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This monitoring visit

There are insufficient staffing levels to meet the needs of the children. For example, staff members are working alone in the daytime or they are required to work unplanned shifts during the night. Leaders and managers do not ensure that all staff working in the home have the experience and qualifications to meet the needs of each child. Staff work in the home without a suitable residential children’s home qualification and appropriate training. This means that some staff do not have the necessary skills and knowledge to support the children in the home.

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This monitoring visit

The home has COVID-19 safety procedures in place to help protect staff, visitors and children living in the home. However, children living in the home refuse to wear face coverings in the community. This places the children and others at increased risk of COVID-19 infection.

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This monitoring visit

During this visit, the inspectors found that leaders and managers had not addressed any of the previous requirements, and a further six requirements are made at this inspection.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 27/01/2020 Full Inadequate 09/10/2019 Full Inadequate 21/01/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/01/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 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, 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 protection of children standard is that children are 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

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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that there is an up-to-date record of each child’s risks of harm and ensure that staff follow children’s care plans to help ensure that any risks to children are minimised. 30 June 2021

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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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 5 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;

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care for 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 the 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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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

Case records must be kept— 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 6 securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and

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Requirement Due date

in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c)(d))

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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. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 30 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 7 understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 30 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 8 The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

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,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

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—

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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; 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 9 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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(x)(b))

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to— 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 10 ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(e)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

If the person who is in day-to-day charge of the children’s home proposes to be absent from the home for a continuous period of 28 days or more, the registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI of the proposed absence.

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Requirement Due date

Except in the case of an emergency or unforeseen absence, a notice under paragraph (1) must—

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Requirement Due date

be given no later than one month before the proposed absence commences, or within such shorter period as may be agreed with HMCI; and

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Requirement Due date

specify with respect to the proposed absence—

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Requirement Due date

the arrangements which have been made for running the home during the absence;

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Requirement Due date

the address, name and qualifications of the person who will be responsible for the home during the absence; and

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Requirement Due date

in the case of the absence of the registered manager, the arrangements that have been, or are proposed to be, made for appointing another person to manage the home during the absence, including the proposed date by which the appointment is to be made. 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 11 If the absence arises as a result of an emergency or is unforeseen, the registered person must give notice of the absence—

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Requirement Due date

within one week of the beginning of the absence; and

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Requirement Due date

specifying the matters in paragraph (2)(b).

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Requirement Due date

If the notice required under paragraph (2) or (3) has not been given as required, it must be given without delay.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI of the return to duty of the person in day-to-day charge of the home not later than 7 days after the date of that person’s return. (Regulation 48 (1) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v) (3)(a)(b) (4) (5))

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child.

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

any punishment involving the consumption or deprivation of food or drink;

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Requirement Due date

any restriction, other than one imposed by a court or in accordance with regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), on—

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Requirement Due date

a child’s contact with parents, relatives or friends;

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Requirement Due date

visits to the child by the child’s parents, relatives or friends;

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Requirement Due date

a child’s communications with any persons listed in regulation 22(1) (contact and access to communications); or

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Requirement Due date

a child’s access to any internet-based or telephone helpline providing counselling for children;

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Requirement Due date

the use or withholding of medication, or medical or dental treatment;

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Requirement Due date

the intentional deprivation of sleep; 30 June 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 12 imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum (which may be by instalments) by way of reparation;

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Requirement Due date

withholding any aids or equipment needed by a disabled child;

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Requirement Due date

any measure involving a child imposing any measure against another child; or

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Requirement Due date

any measure involving punishing a group of children for the behaviour of an individual child. (Regulation 19 (1) 2)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j))

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Information about this inspection

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: Ingleside Children’s Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Wheeleys Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2LD

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Inspectors

Kevin Whatley, Regulatory Inspection Manager Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025799 13 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

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