Clare Lodge

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 1 SC033362 Registered provider: Peterborough City & Cambridgeshire County Councils

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this secure children’s home

This secure children’s home is operated by a local authority and is approved by the Secretary of State to restrict children’s liberty.

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Information about this secure children’s home

The home can accommodate up to four children aged between 10 and 17. It provides care for children accommodated under section 25 of the Children Act 1989, who are placed by local authorities. At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this secure children’s home

Education is provided on site in dedicated facilities.

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Information about this secure children’s home

Admission of any child who is under 13 years of age requires the approval of the Secretary of State, under section 25 of the Children Act 1989.

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Information about this secure children’s home

The commissioning of health services at this home is the statutory responsibility of NHS England under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

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Information about this secure children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since May 2013.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted inspected this home on 13 to 15 September 2022 and judged the service to be inadequate. Because of this, Ofsted served compliance notices in respect of the protection of children, leadership and management and restraint practice. The purpose of this monitoring inspection was to review the progress made against these compliance notices. All other requirements and recommendations from the full inspection will be reviewed at the next full inspection.

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This monitoring visit

A comprehensive improvement plan is in place and is kept under constant review by the local authority improvement board. Effective implementation of this plan by Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 2 leaders and managers has ensured that necessary steps have been taken to meet the requirements of all three compliance notices. The quality of management oversight has improved. New monitoring systems have been introduced and are being implemented by managers and staff effectively. These systems have brought about improved accountability for managers and staff and are influencing positive change and improved standards of care and safety for children. Positive action has been taken to improve staffing arrangements. The provider has taken the decision to reduce the occupancy to four children, who are now accommodated in one area of the home. This, combined with a more planned

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This monitoring visit

approach to the deployment of staff, means that there are now enough experienced staff who can more readily respond to each child’s needs. Children are much safer than previously reported. A full audit of all key records has been carried out and amendments made where necessary. This means that staff now have accurate and up-to-date information available to them. Effective implementation of these plans means that children’s needs, behaviours, risks and vulnerabilities are being managed and met. Standards of security have improved. Staff have benefited from training around boundaries and expectations and are more diligent in ensuring that good security is maintained. Managers are undertaking regular checks regarding staff practice and take swift action when areas for improvement are identified. All staff have either completed, or are in the process of completing, the theory and legislation training in relation to physical restraint. Since the last inspection, there

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This monitoring visit

have been five incidents of restraint, all of which met legal thresholds. Managers have been thorough in their scrutiny of these incidents, making good use of monitoring systems to identify where practice can be improved. As with physical intervention, the use of single separation has reduced since the last inspection. Managers have focused on ensuring that staff understand the thresholds for single separation, which now requires management approval every 15 minutes. This means that this method of control is only used when necessary and for the minimum amount of time. It is positive that leaders and managers recognise that this is the start of their journey and that there is much more to do. Due to the short period of time since the full inspection, it is difficult to assess the long-term impact of these changes. However, the steps taken so far provide a strong platform on which to build. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/09/2022 Full Inadequate 10/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 13/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 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, the 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

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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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

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child; 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 5 ensure that any care that is arranged or provided for a child that—

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Requirement Due date

relates to the child’s development (within the meaning of section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989) or health; and

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Requirement Due date

is not arranged or provided as part of the health service continued under section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006(1),

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Requirement Due date

satisfies the conditions in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

that the care is delivered by a person who—

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Requirement Due date

has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care; and

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Requirement Due date

is under the supervision of a person who is appropriately skilled and qualified to supervise that care. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(c)(i)(d) (i)(ii) (3)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings; 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 6 help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(i))

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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.

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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

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 a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 7 help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must continue to develop an ambitious education curriculum in all subjects. This should be supported by an ethos of high expectations that value children’s attendance and participation in education.

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 28 October 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

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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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 staff— 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 8 encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that consequences for unwanted behaviour are linked to the incident and support restorative practice.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c)) 28 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21 (a))

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Requirement Due date

all staff follow the home’s prohibited items policy; 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 9 records of searches demonstrate that searches are being carried out in line with the policy and are proportionate to risk;

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Requirement Due date

actions that compromise children’s privacy are taken only when there is a risk of significant harm.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c)) 28 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

In particular, obtain a reference from all applicants’ most recent employer. 28 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; 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 10 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”)—

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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 confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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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)) 28 October 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 person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires. 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 11 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 (2)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should review the effectiveness of the current arrangements to ensure that they are effective in identifying, and supporting the registered person to maintain, good standards of care and safety for the children.

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Recommendations

 Leaders and managers should ensure that the ethos of the home supports each child to learn. In particular: - use children’s starting points and identified learning and support needs to plan learning logically in all subjects, to help children develop their knowledge, skills, behaviours and confidence sufficiently so that they know more, remember more and can do more over time - in vocational subjects, plan and teach a curriculum that enables children to develop, consolidate and master the subject-specific knowledge and practical skills that they need. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18)  The registered person should ensure that no more than half the staff on duty at any one time are agency staff, and that these staff have the skills and attributes to meet the needs of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraphs 10.16 and 10.17)

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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: SC033362 12

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Secure children’s home details

Registered provider: Peterborough City & Cambridgeshire County Councils

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Secure children’s home details

Registered provider address: Scott House, 5 George Street, Huntingham, Cambridgeshire PE29 3AD

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Inspectors

Paul Scott, Social Care Inspector Cathey Moriarty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC033362 13 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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