Children's home run by Lancashire County Council in Preston

Inspection report for children's home: SC035439 1 SC035439 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority home. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children. At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report for children's home: SC035439 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC035439 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in all areas of their lives because of the quality of the individualised care and support that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff at the home know the children well. They listen to them, respond to their needs and make them feel valued and cared about.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress in education. They are attending school and college and their behaviour and engagement have improved. Staff are aspirational for children and encourage them to have confidence and self-belief. Children are starting to think about their futures and are proud of the progress they have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been supported to get jobs and gain valuable skills through work experience. They are supported to pursue hobbies and activities which they enjoy. Opportunities for children to socialise with peers are plentiful, and children are growing in confidence and making new friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children have quality time with their families and other people who are important to them. Staff have offered practical help and support to family members, so that they can spend time with their child. This included supporting a child to have his first family holiday. Children value this support. One child said, ‘They treat my family like their family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have decorated their bedrooms and helped to choose colour schemes and soft furnishings in their home. Some areas of the home are more homely than others and standards of decoration vary throughout the home, with some areas needing modernisation.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Actions taken in response to safeguarding concerns are appropriate and help to keep children safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

When children are missing from the home, staff respond in line with safeguarding guidance and work effectively with external agencies to manage risk.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risk management plans lack sufficient clarity in some areas and not all risks to children have been clearly identified.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are proactive in ensuring that children’s emotional needs are identified and addressed, and specialist help is made available when needed. Inspection report for children's home: SC035439 4 There are clear boundaries and appropriate sanctions. The staff team implements these consistently, which enables children to feel secure and helps them build trusting relationships with staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff use positive reinforcement and praise to support children’s social, emotional and behavioural development. They are good role models for children and adopt a therapeutic parenting approach. Staff understand the impact of past experiences on children and encourage children to manage situations in a positive way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates strong values and high ambition for the children who live in the home. She has a good understanding of the strengths of the home and works closely with staff to develop good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they work in a supportive environment and receive good levels of training and supervision. Each staff member has a thorough induction and is encouraged to take an active part in their own professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy managers use team meetings as informal learning opportunities, which further develops staff practice. For example, at one meeting, staff were discussing social pedagogy. They then developed ‘personal profiles’ for staff, to support any children who move into the home in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a consistent staff team in place and sufficient numbers of staff to meet the needs of children. The home does not use agency staff, which means that children are always looked after by staff they know.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a system in place to support monitoring of the home. However, the manager did not identify some shortfalls in recording of information or gaps in training needs for staff. This means that there have been missed opportunities to ensure the continuous improvement in the quality of the care provided for children. Inspection report for children's home: SC035439 5

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 22 February 2022

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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

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

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h)) 22 February 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person must ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant Inspection report for children's home: SC035439 6 health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, etc); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 for children's home: SC035439 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: PO Box 78, County Hall, Fishergate, Preston PR1 8XJ

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Inspector

Emma Thornton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC035439 8 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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