Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 1 SC039248 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 six children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post who registered with Ofsted in January 2021.

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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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean that children and young people are not protected, and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 2

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

This children’s home was judged to be requires improvement to be good at the last inspection. A monitoring visit was undertaken on 8 July 2020 following concerns raised in notifications to Ofsted about the safeguarding of children in the home. Two compliance notices were issued in respect of regulation 40 (notification of a serious event) and regulation 14 (the care planning standard). A monitoring visit on 13 August 2020 to look at the actions taken by the provider found that the compliance notice under regulation 14 had not been met and therefore a further notice was issued. A visit on 29 September 2020 found that this notice had been met.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted received a notification in November 2020 relating to a serious incident in the home which prompted a monitoring visit in December 2020. Following this inspection, two compliance notices were issued in respect of regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and regulation 14 (the care planning standard). These notices were monitored in January 2021 and found to be met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/07/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/06/2018 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 4

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inadequate

Children’s progress and experiences have been variable. Some children have had positive experiences and are making progress. For other children, poor quality of care is having a negative effect on their safety and welfare and limiting their progress.

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inadequate

Some children have made good progress in respect of their education. One child spoken to has high aspirations for his future and is working towards his GCSE exams later in the year. Other children have also made progress in college and have started work placements that will help them gain employability skills.

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inadequate

Some children are growing in confidence and accessing hobbies and activities with their peers, which is good progress for them. Other children are spending their free time away from the home. Staff and the manager have failed to implement good routines and boundaries for all children in respect of the time they should come home, therefore some children are regularly out late and missing mealtimes in the home.

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inadequate

During a tour of the home, the inspector identified significant concerns in relation to standards of hygiene and repair in children’s rooms. Four children’s rooms had damage, including broken furniture and holes and chips in paintwork and walls. Children were at risk of harm due to the hazards presented by broken furniture and damaged fixtures in their rooms.

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inadequate

Furthermore, standards of cleanliness in children’s rooms were not acceptable. One child had rubbish in their room and their bedding required changing. Another child had been sleeping on a stained sheet and did not have pillowcases on their pillows. The manager and staff had failed to provide basic care and support to children regarding the condition of their bedrooms and had allowed children to live and go to sleep in neglectful conditions. One child commented: ‘This doesn’t look like a home; it doesn’t feel like a home, and it isn’t my home.’

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inadequate

Ineffective decision-making with regard to children moving into the home has meant that children have been adversely affected by the group dynamics in the home and the risks associated with other children. For example, one child was moved into the home who was younger than all of the other children. Their impact risk assessment highlighted that another child could pose risks to younger children and stated that they should be monitored closely, especially in the evening. The manager and staff had failed to implement these strategies effectively despite acknowledging the potential for risk.

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inadequate

Another child was moved into the home despite the manager highlighting that their risks could not be managed alongside the needs of children already living in the Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 5 home. Furthermore, the child was moved in on an emergency basis, which did not allow for other children to be supported and prepared for their arrival. Poor practice in this area does not support positive transitions for children into the home.

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

Children’s risk assessments are not clear about all of the risks to children or what actions staff must take to reduce these risks. For example, one child’s risk assessment was not clear about the risks to the child from smoking. The risk assessments did not give strategies for staff to follow in the event that the child was smoking in their room or identify what staff should do if they found smoking paraphernalia in the child’s room. During a tour of the home, lighters and cigarette papers were found in the child’s room. The lack of clarity around this risk, and the lack of strategies for staff to follow, left the child at risk of harm from smoking and all children at risk from fire caused by cigarettes and lighters in the home.

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

Records of significant events do not contain enough detail about the incident or the actions that staff have taken in response to the incident. Poor recording and poor management oversight mean that inconsistent and ineffective staff practice has not been highlighted and addressed. On one occasion, a young child was able to leave the home after midnight. A member of staff tried to follow them but lost sight of them and the child was not reported missing, despite the late hour. This young child later returned after 1am. Records do not state what support the staff gave to the child to ensure their safety or to ascertain where they had been. The child’s risk assessment was not updated following this incident, which means that strategies were not updated to give clear direction to staff should this reoccur. Staff and the manager have not demonstrated that they understand their responsibilities in relation to keeping children safe and have not demonstrated an understanding of

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

the risks to this child from leaving the home at such a late hour.

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

Physical intervention practice is not safely supporting children who are experiencing crisis in their lives. Records of restraint do not contain sufficient detail about the actions taken by staff to de-escalate incidents or clear information about why staff have been unable to use strategies outlined in children’s behaviour support plans.

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

Safer recruitment processes have not been followed. Managers have failed to complete necessary checks to ensure that staff working in the home are suitable to work with children. One staff member had been working in the home without sufficient references being obtained and without satisfactory information in relation to schedule 2 of the children’s homes regulations. This does not keep children safe.

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

Following a concern about a staff member’s suitability to work with children, leaders and managers took effective action in dismissing the staff member and made a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service. However, the manager and responsible individual could not provide documentary evidence of the subsequent investigation that was undertaken to ensure that children had not been harmed during the period that the staff member was employed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 6 Furthermore, leaders and managers did not identify any learning from this and did not revise any of the home’s policies, such as the policy around staff’s use of personal mobile phones, to improve safeguarding practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is managed by an experienced manager who registered with Ofsted in January 2021. The members of the staff team feel well supported by the manager and value her support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are examples of good practice in relation to multi-agency working and professionals feel that the manager communicates effectively with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to address poor record-keeping regarding significant events. During one incident, a child was able to gain access to the roof of the home. The manager did not know how the child had gained access to the roof and had failed to identify that the records of this incident provided conflicting accounts. This poor oversight meant that staff and the manager did not know how to protect the child and did not take steps to prevent them from gaining access to the roof again, leaving them at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to monitor the quality of care provided to children effectively. One child had not been supported to follow their daily routine consistently by staff. Staff have been inconsistent about the time that the child is woken up to prepare them for their school day and the child has not accessed their home tutor consistently since December 2021. The manager has not addressed the inconsistent practice or understood how this has affected the quality of the care for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Although managers have reviewed documentation relevant to the physical intervention of children, they have missed key information that would require further investigation. This does not ensure that restraint practices used are necessary and proportionate and only used as a last resort to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 7

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; and

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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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(d)) 27 March 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 27 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 8 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;

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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)(f)(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; 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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)) 27 March 2022

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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

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 requirements are that— 27 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 9 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 31 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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”)— 27 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC039248 10 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 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)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: SC039248 11

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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: SC039248 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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