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Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 1 SC454484 Registered provider: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties. There were four children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager in post who is not registered with Ofsted.

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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 widespread failures that mean the care and experiences of children and young people are poor.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 2 November 2021

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/11/2021 Full Good 21/07/2021 Full Inadequate 02/03/2020 Full Good 31/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 3

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inadequate

Children’s experiences of living in this home have meant that their progress is hindered by a lack of consistent care and of management oversight of practice.

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inadequate

Managers and staff do not ensure that children’s health needs are fully met. Children who misuse substances do not access services for support. This prevents children from receiving help to develop a healthy lifestyle.

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inadequate

Children’s experiences of education are mixed. There are arrangements in place for home tuition for some children. However, staff have been unable to support these children to engage. Managers and staff have made efforts to find education placements for children. One child has recently started at a new school. While progress has been made, staff have been unable to escalate this progress further. The child’s social worker said, ‘This is progress considering the child’s starting point.’ Other children do not attend education, training or employment. One child spends most of their time away from the home. This means that not all children are experiencing meaningful learning.

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inadequate

Managers and staff have failed to ensure that children have structure in their day. Children spend time in the community during the school day. Staff have failed to engage children in meaningful activities outside of the home. This has a negative impact on children’s experiences.

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inadequate

Staff have failed to meet children’s behavioural and emotional needs. Staff are not always able to respond to the children’s presenting behaviour. There is no evidence that debriefs take place with children following an incident. This prevents children from learning how to manage their own behaviour and feelings.

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inadequate

There is evidence of direct work with children. Some records capture children’s wishes and feelings. However, information captured in discussions with children does not always inform planning. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that staff can better respond to children’s complex needs.

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

Managers have failed to ensure that the information in risk assessments is clear. The steps recorded to support staff to protect children are missing relevant information. The steps to follow to reduce risks such as arson and knife crime do not consider the seriousness of the risks. This means that staff are not equipped to help to protect children.

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

Managers have failed to make decisions which ensure that children are better protected. Staff have made unhelpful decisions, such as allowing a child access to Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 4 lighters when there has been an incident of attempted arson. Records do not guide staff sufficiently to enable them to make clear, consistent decisions to help to protect children.

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

Managers have failed to ensure that the steps to follow when children go missing from the home are clear. This has led to inconsistencies in how staff respond when they go out looking for children and when they report them as missing to the police. Due to insufficient action from staff, there has been one incident which has led to a child being at risk of harm in the community.

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

Managers have failed to ensure that children are adequately supervised at night to prevent them from leaving the home. The information in plans is unclear about how to supervise children during the night or the steps to take if they leave. This places children and staff at significant risk.

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

Managers have failed to ensure that the use of restraint is necessary and proportionate. In one case, records show inconsistent information about how a child was held. It is unclear if the child was held by the wrist or if they were lowered to the floor. Records are of poor quality. They lack evidence of any debrief with staff and children. There is no evaluation or management oversight. This puts children at risk of reoccurring incidents of restraint.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager since 15 June 2021. An acting manager has been in post until the recent appointment of a permanent manager on 7 July 22. Senior leaders and managers have not had management oversight of the home. This has led to widespread failings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leaders and managers moved a child into the home despite an assessment, carried out by the acting manager, which found that this was an unsuitable match with other children already living in the home. This, combined with ineffective oversight by the acting manager, has had a detrimental effect on the experiences of the child and on other children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality of care that children experience has also declined. Staff have not received training to manage all known risks to children shared at the point of admission. This has put all children and staff at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The acting manager has failed to ensure that records are monitored appropriately. Documents such as incident records, risk assessments, including those involving criminal activity, use of knives to threaten, and missing-from-home reports lack monitoring and evaluation to prevent further occurrences and improve practice. Staff do not always complete reports following an incident. Where they are completed, there is inconsistent information across records. There is no evidence of the acting manager addressing this poor recording practice with staff. This further prevents the manager from linking patterns and trends in information to enable staff to improve outcomes for children. Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 5 Managers and staff have failed to respond to complaints made by children. There are no written records of complaints made by children despite a child saying they had raised the complaint with staff. Senior leaders and managers have taken action to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records show and staff report that they have not received regular supervision. This does not give staff the support or guidance they need to care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The acting manager has not taken reasonable steps to ensure that they have full information about each of the matters in schedule 2. This relates to agency staff who work at the home. The manager cannot be satisfied that staff are appropriate to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and the acting manager have failed to provide Ofsted with a quality of care review report within 28 days of the date which the report is completed. This means that there is no record of reflection of the work undertaken with children by staff to enable them to progress and no evaluation of actions to improve in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and the acting manager have failed to report incidents considered serious to Ofsted. This prevents Ofsted taking steps to review and monitor the steps taken to ensure the safety of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Ofsted has issued a restriction of accommodation notice to prevent other children being admitted to the home while the provider improves the experiences of children. Three compliance notices have also been issued. Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 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

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iv)(viii)(ix)) 28 August 2022

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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. 28 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

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

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(x))

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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;

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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

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c)) 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

mutual respect and trust; 28 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 8 an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(ix)(x)(xi))

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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 28 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 9 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;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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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

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; 28 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 10 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

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)(ii)(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

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

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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(c)) 28 August 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

The registered person may only— 28 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 11 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

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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 28 August 2022

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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

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use 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”)—

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Requirement Due date

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 28 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 12 confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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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

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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)) 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 13

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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: SC454484 14

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Gateway Plaza, Sackville Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2RD

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Inspectors

Rachel Webster, Social Care Inspector Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC454484 15 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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