Children's home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Staffordshire Moorlands

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 1 SC470224

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Halliwell Homes Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework.

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Information about this children’s home

This private home provides care for up to 10 children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children living in this home may have a range of social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in November 2013. It is currently operating without a registered manager. The previous acting manager recently left her role with immediate effect after two months in post.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted carried out a visit to the home to monitor a restriction of accommodation notice. The provider has complied with this notice, as no children have been admitted to the home since the last inspection. However, a further restriction of accommodation notice has been served on 14 September 2022 with immediate effect until 6 December 2022. This is because inspectors identified poor practice relating to the safeguarding of children and the overall management of the home.

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This monitoring visit

Leadership and management arrangements for the home are unclear following the acting manager leaving her role. The head of therapeutic parenting is currently overseeing the home on a full-time basis until a permanent arrangement is made. She has started to support the staff team and reaffirm the action that needs to be taken to move forward positively and address significant concerns.

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This monitoring visit

Senior managers have failed to provide consistent oversight, support and supervision of the management of the home. In addition, there has been a delay in senior managers identifying the shortfalls relating to the management of the home or the safeguarding of children.

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This monitoring visit

There continues to be vacancies in the staff team. Two staff have resigned and are in their notice period. There have been occasions when there has been insufficient Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 2 staff on shift to care for children in line with their individual care plans. Some rotas are unclear and do not reflect the actual hours staff have worked. That said, rotas evidence that there are now sufficient staffing levels to safely care for the five children who are currently living in the home. However, there would be insufficient numbers of trained and experienced staff to care for the children if more children were admitted to the home.

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This monitoring visit

The use of restraint is not always safe, and, at times, it is not proportionate. Children say that they have seen other children being taken to their bedrooms by staff when they do not behave. Records evidence two separate occasions when one child has been escorted to and restrained in their bedroom. Staff do not understand their roles and responsibilities when holding children. This specifically relates to ensuring that children feel safe while being held and staff’s understanding of why children should not be physically moved around the home and taken to their bedrooms because of their behaviour.

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This monitoring visit

Senior managers have failed to acknowledge or address this poor practice in their evaluation of the restraints. Additionally, debriefs with the child and staff have been carried out by a staff member involved in the restraint. This fails to promote impartial transparency when discussing the management of the incident with the child and the staff involved.

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This monitoring visit

Most of the staff have not received formal practice-related supervision in line with the organisation’s own supervision policy. This means that staff have not had their practice, learning and development reviewed regularly. Additionally, managers have failed to provide staff with the opportunity to discuss concerns about the quality of care, the safeguarding of children or to reflect on children’s progress.

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This monitoring visit

Children told the inspectors that they regularly receive consequences for their behaviour. Several records relating to consequences were unavailable during the visit. Staff have failed to record some of the consequences children have received. This means that there is a risk of inappropriate or unsafe measures being used with children in relation to behaviour management. Additionally, when consequences have been recorded, there is a lack of management oversight of the suitability and effectiveness of the measures used.

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This monitoring visit

On one occasion, the manager has failed to notify Ofsted about serious concerns raised by a child’s parent and the action senior managers have taken to address the issues. This prevents the regulator from being able to monitor the home effectively and assess if the correct action is being taken to safeguard children.

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This monitoring visit

Children say that they feel safe and most of the children are happy at the home. There were improvements to their physical presentation, for example their clothing and their personal hygiene. The home environment continues to be clean, tidy and homely. Additional improvements have been made to the standard of the communal areas. Children’s bedrooms are personalised nicely and there are further plans to make positive changes to the home. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 3 Following a serious allegation made by a child about their peer, appropriate action has been taken to safeguard and support both children, including implementing additional waking night staff. Children’s risk management plans have been updated to include strategies to manage these risks and they have been shared appropriately with the staff working in the home.

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This monitoring visit

Procedures to safely manage allegations have been followed when a child said that a member of staff had caused them an injury during a restraint. Senior managers have notified all relevant professionals, and the placing authority informed inspectors that it is satisfied with the approach taken to safeguard the child.

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This monitoring visit

The remaining areas of concern raised at the full inspection were not looked at during this visit. Therefore, they remain requirements and recommendations until the home’s next inspection.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 21/06/2022 Full Inadequate 28/07/2021 Full Good 18/12/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 25/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 4

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff understand appropriate and trained use of restraint, to ensure that children feel and are kept safe. 2 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)) 2 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (2)) 2 October 2022

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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. 2 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 5 (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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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)) 2 October 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

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that full information is available in relation to each of the matters listed. 17 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 2 October 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

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; 2 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 6 the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all consequences used are recorded and in with regulation.

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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

The registered person must ensure that children’s case records are kept up to date. This was a requirement at the last inspection and is restated. 17 August 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. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff rotas reflect the actual hours that staff have worked in the home. 2 October 2022

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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

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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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)(c)(e)) 2 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person— 17 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 7 if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the independent person seeks feedback from others, improves the evaluative content of the report and states their opinion as to whether children are safeguarded effectively.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the relevant officer or teams within the local authority are informed promptly of all allegations that come to an employer’s attention or that are made directly to the police. Specifically, the placing authority out-of-hours or duty team should be notified without delay of any allegation made by a child when their social worker is not available. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.18)  The registered person should ensure that records show information relating to children’s access to return home interviews after incidents of missing from home, specifically where they have raised this with the child’s placing authority. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pearce House, 80 Cawdor Street, Eccles M30 0QF

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC470224 9 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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