Children's home run by Pebbles Care Limited in Leeds

Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 1 SC379274 Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children who have social and emotional difficulties. The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2022. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 10 January 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2022 Full Good 08/04/2019 Full Good 29/05/2018 Full Good 07/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 3

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improvement to be good

After a period of instability, there is now a consistent staff team. This predictability supports children to develop relationships with the adults around them based on the home’s therapeutic model of parenting. One of the children said, ‘The staff are kind and fun.’ The staff provide individualised care to the children. There are, due to the makeup of the staff team, limited opportunities for the children to spend time with an adult of the same gender.

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improvement to be good

There is a focus on children building positive relationships with the manager and staff. However, boundaries are not always clear for children. Age-appropriate and risk-based rules that are intended to keep them safe are not always enforced by staff. As a result, children are not always supported by staff to keep themselves safe online and, at times, are exposed to potential risks.

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improvement to be good

When children do not attend school, the manager has ensured that alternative arrangements are made to support their learning. Children are encouraged to engage with educational activities for several hours each day. Staff ensure that children are unable to access the home’s internet during education hours, and age restrictions are applied.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to move on to independence in line with their wishes. The manager has been proactive in advocating on behalf of children and has challenged the local authority if required.

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improvement to be good

A monthly newsletter shared with professionals is also provided to each child. This means that they have a permanent memento of their time living at the home to take with them when they move on.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to maintain links with important people in their lives through a combination of face-to-face and telephone contact. One parent spoke highly of the support that the staff provide to their child. Professionals say that there is a good level of communication from staff.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to have healthy diets and take part in activities outside of the home. The time restrictions around the internet are relaxed during school holidays. One child chose to spend most of their time gaming rather than participating in the activities that were offered. Some of the gaming material is not age-appropriate and could have a detrimental impact on their health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a homely environment; communal areas are welcoming and decorated to a good standard. Children are encouraged to personalise their rooms, but this is less evident with one child, who has not made many changes to their room. A wardrobe in the child’s bedroom needs attention to make it safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 4

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improvement to be good

The children’s plans state they will be provided with a high level of structure and boundaries. One child has, until recently, been subject to court-imposed restrictions in response to concerns about their vulnerabilities to exploitation. The actions identified in the child’s care plan in relation to social media and phone usage have not been progressed. Staff are not following the child’s plan, which sets limits for the times that they can access their phone.

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improvement to be good

Staff have applied restrictions on the home’s internet, preventing children from accessing inappropriate material. However, no steps have been taken to monitor the children’s phones when they download material using the Wi-Fi in a local supermarket.

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improvement to be good

The manager responded appropriately and deleted an inappropriate game from a child’s games console. However, the child redownloaded the material and continued playing the game in their bedroom. The lack of staff insight and action meant the child had access to the game for several days. At the time of the inspection, no action had been taken to remove the child’s access to an adult-rated game.

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improvement to be good

There has been a reduction in children being missing from the home. The young person who was frequently missing from home has now moved on. The current children are not often missing as they have daily free time. Staff know and follow plans to help children to return quickly when they are away from the home without authorisation. Children are offered the opportunity to speak to an independent person after they have been away from home. Staff make regular welfare telephone calls to children when they are out with friends.

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improvement to be good

There has been a reduction in the use of holds. Staff use their skills to de-escalate situations. When a child has been held, this is documented, and both staff and children are supported to talk about what happened afterwards. Concerns raised about the physical restraint practice of agency staff have been promptly addressed by the manager.

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improvement to be good

When children are at risk of exhibiting anti-social or offending behaviour, the manager ensures that the children undertake work with the local police to reduce the likelihood of them being criminalised.

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improvement to be good

Room searches are completed if there are concerns that a child may have access to harmful items. Children are spoken to about why a search is being undertaken and, where possible, are encouraged to be present. Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 5

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good

The dedicated manager is committed to providing a therapeutic model of care to the children and has a clear vision for how they want to develop the service. The manager’s genuine care for the children is reflected across the staff team.

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good

The competing needs of three children who previously lived at the home meant that the permanent staff team needed to be supplemented by agency workers. There is now a more stable, consistent and permanent staff team available to care for the two children who live in the home.

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good

Recruitment practice is safe, and staff have been inducted to the home. Staff say that morale has improved, and they are positive about the support that they receive from the manager. There is only one male member of staff, and ideally there would be more gender diversity in the staff team.

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good

Staff receive regular, reflective supervision, and the manager ensures that they have been trained in the home’s model of care. Team meetings are used to discuss the children’s needs and how these can be met.

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good

Not all significant incidents that relate to the welfare and protection of children have been notified to Ofsted. This means that the regulator is not able to be reassured that children are receiving the appropriate support.

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good

Gaps in the manager’s and staff’s knowledge and insight about online gaming and social media do not ensure that children are effectively safeguarded. Insufficient checks and monitoring, that do not extend beyond children’s Wi-Fi usage in the home, exposes them to additional risks that have not been considered. The lack of an online safety champion in the home means children have a greater understanding of how to get around the system than staff do. This shortfall in knowledge limits the ability of staff to ensure that inappropriate material is removed.

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good

The manager has taken steps to strengthen systems for consultation with parents and professionals. However, these improvements are not evidenced in the quality of care review, which does not include feedback from others. Children are consulted on their views; however, the content of these discussions is not consistently recorded. This limits the manager’s ability to evidence how the children’s views are taken into consideration when evaluating the quality of care that they receive. Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 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 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 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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s safety plans are followed and that staff monitor children’s use of mobile phones and the internet effectively, especially when they are downloading material outside of the home. 31 March 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

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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 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 31 March 2023

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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; 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 7 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b))

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(5)) 31 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that children’s rooms are well maintained and that furniture is both safe and fully functional. This relates to a wardrobe that has been damaged. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: SC379274 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Laura Grundy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC379274 9 regulates and inspects 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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