Children's Home run by Bess Solutions Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2652672 1

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Bess Solutions Limited

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. The home is registered to provide care for up to two children aged between eight and 17 years. Children may have emotional and social difficulties or autism spectrum disorder.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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This monitoring visit

This visit was carried out to monitor a compliance notice set by Ofsted following the last inspection. The purpose of the visit was to review the compliance notice, which is in relation to the leadership and management of the home. Two requirements set at the last inspection were also reviewed.

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This monitoring visit

The compliance notice in relation to leadership and management is met.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers now ensure that all staff go through a robust safer recruitment process. This process now includes any staff who provide a service to children on a consultancy basis. This means that children are only looked after by staff who have been fully vetted by managers.

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This monitoring visit

The home’s statement of purpose now only details staff who are employed to work at this children’s home. A clear and accurate picture can be established about who is caring for the children.

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This monitoring visit

Managers now ensure that staff can fully meet the care needs of the children who are currently accommodated. Additional training has been provided. Care planning has improved. The staff team’s competency is being reviewed by the manager. This process is further strengthened because of monitoring by the responsible individual. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2652672 2 Managers have reviewed and improved their matching processes when children are admitted. This means that new children who are transitioning to this home can be much better matched with the current children. This also means that the likelihood of placement breakdown is reduced.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have ensured that the physical environment is now in good repair. Children’s bedrooms are being decorated. Outside play areas have been tidied. Managers now have an effective daily monitoring process for several areas of the home’s environment. Managers have further improved the environment by responding to recommendations from the organisation’s own independent visitor. Better monitoring means that children are more likely to live in a warm and homely environment that is free from health and safety risks.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have not ensured that all safeguarding agencies are informed when children make an allegation about a member of staff. For instance, when children allege harm after a physical intervention, the matter is not always referred to the local authority designated officer. Additionally, records of allegations are not clear. This means that safeguarding procedures have not been effective.

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This monitoring visit

One of the requirements and all recommendations made at the last inspection were not reviewed during this monitoring visit. One further requirement has been made. Actions to address these requirements and previous recommendations will be reviewed at the next inspection.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 24/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2652672 3

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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 effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)e))

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Requirement Due date

The relates to a safeguarding concern not being shared with all the appropriate safeguarding agencies, including the local authority designated officer. 27 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 27 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2652672 4 This relates to leaders and managers matching children to the home that puts younger children at risk of harm.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulation 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placements breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should support staff to be ambitious for every child in the home and to gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each child to achieve their potential. To ensure staff can understand and can meet each child’s needs, in line with their responsibilities, the registered person themselves will need to have a high level of understanding of the needs of the children in their care. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5)

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that is helpful to the child. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded, or not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered persons and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5, engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are being met. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15) Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2652672 5

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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: 2652672 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bess Solutions Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 194 Narborough Road South, Leicester LE3 2LD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jason Darbyshire

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Inspector

Simon Hunter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2652672 7 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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