Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Bedford

Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private organisation runs this home. The home cares for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties and associated complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left on 5 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 3

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improvement to be good

The home registered with Ofsted in January 2021. Children have not been provided with consistency or stability since registration due to the registered manager leaving and changes to the staff team. As a result, children have found it difficult to build trusting relationships with the adults who care for them and one child regularly voices that he does not feel listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children have not been provided with routine or structure in their daily lives. This has resulted in one child regularly staying up all night and sleeping throughout the day. This has caused disruption to the other child at the home. As a result, children’s engagement with the home tutoring on offer has been minimal.

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improvement to be good

Plans for children to attend an education provision have been slow to progress. The home has failed to obtain an up-to-date personal education plan for one child. This means that staff do not understand the child’s current education needs or what actions they should be taking to meet these. Staff facilitate children attending practical learning sessions, such as car mechanics and plastering, which the children enjoy and more readily take part in.

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improvement to be good

Repairs are made in a timely way to the regular and serious damage to the home. However, the decoration and some of the furniture looks worn and lacks personalisation. Children do not have access to the whole of the garden as the lawn area has been neglected and is overgrown. This does not provide a pleasant space for children to spend time in.

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improvement to be good

There are examples of children being well supported by core staff to share their feelings. Staff also undertake regular key-work sessions with children about issues that are relevant to the child. More recently, staff have involved children in making decisions about improvements to the house.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to stay in contact with their families and spend time with them. Children are engaging in some fun activities with staff and the staff are now identifying clubs for children to attend as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

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improvement to be good

Ofsted received a complaint from a third party raising concern about how staff were being supported to keep children safe. The areas of concern were looked at during this inspection.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments for children contain errors and do not always include the presenting risks. There have been incidents when staff have not followed risk assessment Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 4 guidance, placing children at increased risk of harm. This includes a child vulnerable to gang exploitation leaving the home in the night without staff knowing. Consequently, the child’s whereabouts were unknown for an extended time before staff implemented the child’s missing-from-care protocol.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently implement boundaries or the guidance in children’s plans. As a result, children are not provided with clear expectations. This has resulted in children more regularly testing the boundaries, adding to difficulties in establishing routines at the home.

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improvement to be good

The provider regularly uses staff from other homes and agency staff to meet the required staffing level. This means that the children are cared for by staff who are not familiar with their needs. The vacant posts have been recruited to and new staff are awaiting start dates. There are omissions in safer recruitment practices for permanent and agency staff. The manager does not explore the reasons why applicants have left previous care roles and gaps in employment are not fully accounted for.

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improvement to be good

Staff have up-to-date training in safeguarding, first aid and managing behaviour. However, staff have not accessed training to help them to meet the specific needs of the children they are caring for, including managing identified risks of county lines and children going missing from home.

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improvement to be good

When staff know that children are missing from the home, they act quickly to help find them and return them safely to the home, where they are welcomed. Staff are proportionate in their response to incidents of children being physically aggressive and damaging the home. Children have not been criminalised for these incidents. Staff use de-escalation techniques to help children manage when they are feeling anxious or angry. There have been two incidents of staff using physical restraint to keep the children and adults in the home safe. The manager did not complete a debrief with the child to reflect on the events.

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improvement to be good

The home has reported safeguarding concerns to the designated officer and Ofsted in a timely way. Senior managers are familiar with all safeguarding incidents that have occurred at the home and have identified additional support to be provided to the staff.

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good

The absence of a consistent manager has impeded the home from establishing a strong culture and cohesive staff team since it registered in January 2021. Individual staff members have shown resilience and commitment to the children, but they have felt unsupported in their roles.

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good

The lack of management oversight has resulted in varying quality of practice and paperwork. Serious maintenance issues, such as broken bedroom door alarms, were not resolved by managers quickly, placing children at increased risk. Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 5 Managers do not consistently identify and address inconsistencies in staff practice. This fails to provide the children with the stability and predictability in their daily lives that nurtures trusting relationships with others.

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good

Staff support children to make complaints. Managers respond to these formally. However, children are not given enough information about how to escalate their complaint if they are not happy with the outcome.

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good

Senior managers take decisive action when serious shortfalls are identified. Senior managers have reviewed the presenting risks at the home and have been proactive in implementing an action plan to make improvements to the home and to support staff.

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good

The independent person provides detailed reports and appropriate challenge to improve practice at the home. This delivers effective independent oversight of the home. Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 6

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to —

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (2)(c)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the garden is maintained to an acceptable standard which enables children to use the outdoor space. 21 June 2021

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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

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. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, obtain the most up-to-date personal education plans and implement the most recent actions to promote the child’s attendance and engagement in education. 21 June 2021

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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— 21 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 7 that staff—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are accurate and staff follow the guidance to keep children safe.

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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 improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to management oversight of the quality and accuracy of recording in the children’s plans and on their records. 1 July 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 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

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. (Regulation 13 (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to establishing daily routines and consistency of staff expectations of the children. 1 July 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. 21 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 8 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,

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Requirement Due date

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

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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. (Regulation 32 (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all checks are in place for agency and permanent staff working at the home before they commence working at the home.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

within 5 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)(b) (3)) 1 July 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. In particular, complaint outcome letters provided to children should contain information on how the child can take their complaint further if they want to. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate resources and facilities to support their training needs, and should understand the key role that they play in the training and development of the staff at the home. In particular, provide the staff with training that reflects the children’s specific needs, including training on understanding gang affiliation and county lines. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 9

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5 Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Paula Edwards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2622998 11 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

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