Children's Home run by Autonomy Plus Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 1 Registered provider: Autonomy Plus Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. It provides care for up to five children who have a learning disability and additional needs. At the time of the inspection, four children were living at this home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left on 16 April 2021 to become the responsible individual. The home has been without a registered manager since.

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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 children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 18 October 2021

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/06/2021 Full Inadequate 09/09/2019 Full Good 06/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 3

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inadequate

The progress and experiences of children are inadequate because safeguarding arrangements are weak, management oversight is poor and therefore children are not always fully protected.

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inadequate

Children can live at this home beyond their 18th birthday to support a move to adult care. At the time of this inspection, there was one young adult and three children living in the home. Care planning for the young adult to move on is slow as he has now reached his 19th birthday without a clear plan for a move from this children’s home.

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inadequate

Care plans, put in place by children’s placing local authority, are not always followed. An agreed staffing ratio of two staff to support one child is not always provided. This shortfall has the potential to deny the child the opportunity to fully take part in planned activities. Furthermore, when the child is included in outings with other children, the reduced staffing levels place all the children at greater risk of harm.

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inadequate

All the children attend full-time education. Staff liaise well with school professionals to promote attendance and learning. Within the home, each child has some identified aims to work towards, to develop their personal skills. Daily recording of any progress made lacks sufficient detail to evidence if children are achieving the desired outcomes.

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inadequate

The home has been decorated in some areas, improving the homely appearance. The departure of the employed maintenance team has led to some delays in further redecoration and repairs. Damage to the stairwell is unsightly and requires repair without waiting for new maintenance staff to be employed.

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inadequate

Children are supported well to keep in touch with family and friends. Visits and phone calls are further enhanced with the use of technology and video calls. Children enjoy attending a weekly youth club, where they make friendships outside the home.

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

Children experience inappropriate restraint. On at least three occasions, staff members have lifted and carried a child to move them. Each time this occurred in response to manage a child’s behaviour that challenged the skills of the staff team. The physical restraint policy is not fit for purpose. The policy fails to provide suitable guidance for staff without any reference to the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. Instead, the policy refers to the Care Quality Commission. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 4 Leaders and managers do not understand the procedures in relation to referring poor staff practice promptly to the local authority designated officer (LADO). One incident of carrying a child in December 2021 was referred to the LADO. However, leaders and managers failed to maintain a record of the LADO’s response. A second incident in January 2022 was not assessed as needing to be reported to the LADO.

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

A more recent incident in April 2022 was inappropriately referred to the local authority multi-agency safeguarding hub instead of the LADO. As a result of this error, the referral was three days after the incident. This is the second time that leaders and managers have failed to follow safeguarding procedures by not referring to the LADO immediately. This failing was reported on at the previous inspection in June 2021.

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

Leaders and managers lack appropriate curiosity in their monitoring of care practices. The independent person visited in November 2021 and reported that some unexplained marks were noted on a child’s arm. Leaders and managers are unable to find any records to confirm how, or if, this matter was investigated.

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

Recruitment procedures do not thoroughly check the suitability of staff to care for children. Leaders and managers do not always seek verification as to why previous employment with children and/or vulnerable adults has ended. This lack of sufficient rigour in recruitment practices means that managers cannot always be assured that children will be cared for by suitable or appropriately skilled staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager since April 2021. Ofsted concluded in November 2021 that the applicant proposed by the organisation was not suitable for the role. Since December 2021, the responsible individual has resumed the day-to-day role of managing the home but has not submitted an application to register with Ofsted. The absence of a full complement of effective leaders and managers has contributed to the inadequate inspection judgement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Repeated shortfalls are evident in relation to the protection of children, recruitment of staff and the leadership and management of the home. Requirements have been made about these failings at a previous inspection in June 2021 and a compliance notice was issued. Another compliance notice has been issued due to the findings at this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Record-keeping is poor. Some progress has been made to ensure that most of the records maintained are now held electronically, avoiding the complexity of two recording systems. However, the content is often weak and at times inaccurate. Records of fire evacuation from the home in response to the alarm being activated are incomplete. The records are often illegible, full names of those present are not always recorded and the reason for the evacuation is not always listed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records of outings and activities do not always detail the names of all the staff present. Furthermore, a complaint was received about one of the children from a Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 5 local business in November 2021. Although the matter was dealt with appropriately and resolved, leaders and managers did not record the incident as a complaint, failing to follow the complaints procedure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff report that they feel supported by the management of the home and that they enjoy their role in caring for and supporting the children. In addition, social care professionals report that they are generally satisfied with the quality of care provided. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 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 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; and 1 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 7 that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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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

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 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 1 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 8 A responsible individual must—

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)) 1 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 1 July 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, 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. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 1 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out— 1 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 9 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. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2))

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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. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 1 July 2022

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 1 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3)) 1 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 10

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that repairs to any damage in the home are of good quality and dealt with promptly to create a warm, welcoming environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes 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: 1263124 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Autonomy Plus Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 67 Roundpond, Melksham, Wiltshire SN12 8EB

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Inspector

Clare Davies, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1263124 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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