Children's Home run by Lytham Care Limited in Knowsley

Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 1 Registered provider: Lytham Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to two children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that the home provides care for children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home did not care for children from September 2021 until May 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager was registered on 8 April 2022 and resigned on 22 July 2022. At the time of the inspection, a temporary manager ran the home. A new permanent manager was due to start work on 5 September 2022.

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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

Date of last inspection: 7 September 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the serious and widespread concerns found at the last inspection, Ofsted issued a notice to suspend the registration of the home on 8 September 2021. Ofsted carried out monitoring visits on 20 October 2021, 24 November 2021, 18 January 2022 and 16 February 2022. Inspectors found that the registered provider had complied with the notice of suspension and no children were living at the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 2 At a further monitoring visit, on 7 April 2022, the inspector found that the registered provider had made improvements to the house, the management of the home and the staff team. Therefore, Ofsted lifted the notice of suspension on 8 April 2022 and the registered provider was able to care for children at the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/09/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at the home receives good-quality individualised care that meets their needs. Staff have the skills and qualities to build genuine and positive relationships with the child. The child is positive about the staff. They know that the staff care about them and want the best for them. The child feels able to talk to staff about their life and when they are worried.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is spending more time with staff, for example, the child asked a particular member of staff to go shopping with them for new trainers. Staff use these opportunities well to get to know the child and develop a relationship. The social worker said, ‘It is the first time the child has engaged with staff. No matter how briefly, and it’s only here and there, but this is really good in the context of the child’s life.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The strength of the child’s relationships with staff is making a difference to the child’s life and influencing their progress. The child is no longer going missing from home for lengthy periods of time. They are maintaining positive relationships with the important people in their life. They are due to start college in September 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen and respond appropriately to the child’s wishes and feelings. They involve the child in the decisions affecting their care and future. Staff help the child understand when their wishes may not be in their best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to understand the importance of education, employment and training. They encourage and support the child’s learning and ambitions, as any good parent would do, including helping the child to prepare to start college. Staff have supported the child to find a job for the summer.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to have a healthy lifestyle and learn how to look after their own health needs. Staff make sure that the child gets the medical advice, assessment and treatment that they need. For example, staff supported the child to have dental treatment and improve their health outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to prepare for adult life. They help the child to build on their existing strengths and skills. Staff encourage the child to learn the new skills that they will need when they live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s move into the home was planned carefully. When the child visited the home, they wanted to move in. Managers made sure that staff could respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. The child has settled and is doing well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not have copies of the child’s relevant plans, including the placing authority’s care plan, the independent reviewing officer’s report from the last review of the plan, the education, health and care plan, and the personal educational plan. Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 5 Managers and staff have been unsuccessful in their efforts to obtain this information from the placing authority. They have not escalated things effectively to make sure that they receive the plans. Therefore, staff do not have access to up-to-date information about the child, including about their support needs and learning objectives. This limits staff’s ability to support the child and their development and to measure the child’s progress accurately from their starting point.

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

The child feels safe and is protected from actual harm. Staff understand the child’s vulnerabilities and identified risks. They are trained in safeguarding and understand their responsibilities for keeping children safe. They are familiar with, and act in line with, child protection and whistle-blowing policies.

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

Staff are vigilant and curious. They recognise the signs that the child may be at risk of harm. Staff take appropriate action when they have serious concerns about the child’s welfare. They use strong working relationships with the local authority and the police to understand and manage risks to the child’s safety.

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

Staff share information appropriately with these agencies to build up a clearer picture of what is happening in the child’s life and the actual risk to their safety. The police, social worker and independent reviewing officer reported that managers and staff understand the risks for the child, share and escalate their concerns appropriately and act to safeguard the child. Staff follow the child’s plan and statutory guidance when the child is missing from home.

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

Managers and staff actively and continually assess the dangers to the child and follow up-to-date plans effectively to manage and reduce the risk of harm. Since coming to live at the home, the child has become significantly safer from the risks associated with going missing from home.

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

Staff have the skills and confidence to help the child to recognise unsafe situations and to make positive choices about their safety and ask for help. Managers and staff recognise that the child struggles to build relationships with professionals. Therefore, they contacted a project run by ex-offenders to talk to the child about the risks and impact of county lines and criminal exploitation.

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

Staff provide children with emotional warmth and clear boundaries and expectations that promote positive behaviour. Staff use their positive relationships with the child to deal with any problems constructively. Staff listen to the child’s views about the best ways to help them when they are upset or angry. Staff help the child to resolve problems in the child’s best interests. For example, when the child was frustrated by the noise coming from the house next door, staff resolved the issue by helping the child to move bedrooms to a quieter part of the house.

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

Staff use suitable measures to help children learn about socially acceptable behaviour and encourage positive actions. For example, staff use incentives to encourage the child to stay in touch with them when they are out and to come Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 6 home on time. Managers and the responsible individual evaluate the use of these measures to make sure that they are working and improving the child’s outcomes.

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

The floor tiles in the bathroom are old and cracked. They are a potential hazard to the safety of the child and staff.

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

The lone working with children risk assessment and the review of the suitability of the location of the house are not tailored to the individual vulnerabilities and risks of the child living in the home. Consequently, the measures put in place to manage risks may not meet the child’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

After the resignation of the registered manager, the provider acted promptly to put in place suitable temporary management arrangements. The provider has also appointed a new permanent manager who was due to start working at the home on 5 September 2022.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual provides thorough oversight of the management of the home. They use monitoring systems effectively to identify shortfalls and make the necessary improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual and managers have improved the quality of care and protection since the last full inspection in September 2021. They have addressed the serious shortfalls in safeguarding practice, staff understanding of their role and the needs of children, staff knowledge and skills, the management of risks to children’s safety, and the leadership and management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management arrangements are providing clear, accountable and effective leadership. The responsible individual and the temporary manager provide staff with the right support, guidance and oversight that make sure that the child receives safe and effective care that meets their needs. Staff morale is good. Staff work cohesively together as a team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have the relevant experience and qualifications to care for vulnerable children. The responsible individual makes sure that any vacancies are filled quickly by suitable people. Safer recruitment procedures are followed to make sure that the risks to children from unsuitable adults are minimised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are sufficient staff working at the home to meet the child’s needs and to protect them from harm. The staffing arrangements make sure that the child receives continuity of care so they can develop relationships over time with the adults caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have the information, skills and knowledge they require to understand the aims and objectives of the home’s statement of purpose, their roles and responsibilities in caring for children and meeting their assessed needs. Since April 2022, staff have Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 7 completed relevant training in safeguarding, managing difficult behaviour and risks of county lines and criminal exploitation, alcohol and substance misuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision records do not demonstrate that staff have had the opportunity to reflect individually on their practice and the needs of the child in their care. They do not discuss and evaluate their learning from training and how this is being applied to their care of the child. There is no record of the actions agreed at the meeting. Likewise, the appraisal of staff’s performance and fitness to carry out their role does not include a specific action plan that contributes to their continued professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person carrying out the external monitoring of the home does not speak to the child to get their views about living at the home and the care they receive. This limits the independent person’s ability to understand the child’s lived experience and the impact of the quality of care provided on child’s lives and outcomes lives. Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 8

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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

that the premises used for the purpose 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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the provider ensuring that the bathroom floor is repaired. 31 August 2022

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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 kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the provider having up-to-date copies of the children’s care plan prepared by the placing authority, and their education, health and care plan, personal education plan and the minutes from the last review of the child’s placing authority plan.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent visitor requires. 31 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 9 (Regulation 44 (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the independent person talks to each child about their views of their experiences of living at the home and the quality of care and protection provided.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that lone-working risk assessments and the review of the premises are tailored to the needs and identified risks for each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that supervision records demonstrate that staff have had the opportunity to reflect on their practice and the needs of the child in their care and the evaluation of their learning from training and how this is being applied to the care of the child. In addition, that there is a record of the specific actions agreed at the meeting. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that the appraisal of staff’s performance and fitness to carry out their role includes a specific action plan that contributes to the

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Recommendations

member of staff’s continued professional development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 61, paragraph 13,5)

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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: 2585541 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lytham Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 400 Longmoor Lane, Fazakerly, Liverpool L9 9DB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rachel Springford

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Inspectors

Nick Veysey, Social Care Inspector Dawn Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2585541 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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