Children's home run by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 1 Registered provider: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care for up to four children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties and may have learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since January 2021. A new permanent manager has been appointed, who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

The home was judged to be inadequate at the full inspection on 30 and 31 May 2023. Compliance notices were served in relation to regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). A notice restricting accommodation was served to prevent any children moving into the home from 6 June 2023 to 28 August 2023. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 2 A monitoring visit took place on 18 July 2023. At this visit, it was identified that sufficient progress had been made against the specified steps in the compliance notices for regulations 12 and 13 and these had been met. The notice restricting accommodation remained in place but ended on 28 August 2023. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/05/2023 Full Inadequate 02/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/05/2022 Full Inadequate 01/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 4

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improvement to be good

Staff do not have access to up-to-date statutory plans for all children. This impacts on the quality of care being delivered to children. In addition, the home’s documentation, including children’s plans, is overly lengthy and the quality of recording is inconsistent. This makes documentation difficult for staff and children to review and understand.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. However, not all children’s plans supporting family time are clear. This does not support staff practice.

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improvement to be good

The home is welcoming and has modern decoration. However, institutional furniture and failure to replace the sofa and carpets in a timely manner detract from this.

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improvement to be good

Children are making good progress in their education. One child is preparing to attend college, and another has chosen their options in preparation for another school year.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to develop independence skills. One child has been successful in securing employment. This supports children with the positive foundations to transition into adulthood, promotes their self-esteem and gives them a sense of achievement.

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improvement to be good

Staff work well with a variety of professionals to ensure that children’s emotional and health needs are understood and supported. One child is being helped to take responsibility for their medication and to administer this as part of a plan to promote their independence and manage a long-term health condition.

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improvement to be good

External professionals are complimentary about the care given to children. Children also speak positively about their relationships with the staff and how they are supported.

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improvement to be good

Staff benefit from consultation with a clinician to support children’s emotional health and well-being. Staff feel this has improved children’s relationship with the team, supported their practice and reduced incidents in the home. Behaviour management in the home is generally effective. As a result, there have been no instances of children being held by staff.

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improvement to be good

Sometimes, children go missing from the home. When this happens, staff respond effectively. They search for children and report them as missing to the police. Return Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 5 home interviews are carried out with children following their safe return and staff carry out direct work to support and educate children and reduce risk. This reinforces to children that they have people in their lives who care about them and want to keep them safe.

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improvement to be good

Generally, staff understand and manage the risks to children. However, the home uses bedroom door alarms for all children despite there being no clear rationale for this. The use of bedroom door alarms is not based on an assessment of children’s individual needs.

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improvement to be good

Direct work is carried out with children, and staff take the time to source additional resources to educate and support children. However, staff are not yet consistently carrying out work on all areas of emerging risks. This impacts on the support delivered to children.

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good

Management oversight of incidents has improved. However, the manager has failed to identify the use of inappropriate language in some records or challenge incorrect terminology. As a result, some records lack clarity and do not accurately reflect incidents. This reduces the manager’s ability to improve staff practice and support for children.

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good

Staff say they feel supported by the manager and speak positively about the changes in recent months. The quality of supervision has improved, and supervision sessions are now reflective and detailed. This supports staff’s continuing development.

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good

Staff team meetings are well attended and include guest speakers. Meetings focus on the needs of children, staff development and reflection on practice.

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good

A new monitoring system has been devised to ensure that there is sufficient oversight of all records in the home; however, this is not yet embedded in practice. As a result, there are continued shortfalls in some aspects of recording. For example, staff rotas do not contain the full names of all staff working in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 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 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

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

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that the home is clean and well maintained. Institutional fittings must be removed, and items such as damaged carpets and sofas must be replaced in a timely manner. 13 October 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

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; 13 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must: ensure that robust monitoring systems are in place to identify anomalies in records; ensure that information in children’s plans is clear; improve recording and evaluate and improve the quality of care delivered in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that children’s records are recorded in a way that is helpful to the child. Records must not be derogatory in nature or contain institutional language.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that regular direct work is carried out with children that is specific to their individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that the use of surveillance is regularly reviewed in the home for all children. Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that systems in place are fit for purpose and that the home does not operate a blanket approach for all children. 13 October 2023

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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)) 13 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 8 Specifically, leaders and managers should ensure that all children have up-to-date plans and that each child’s records are completed and maintained.

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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

that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that full names are recorded on rotas. 13 October 2023

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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: 1263766 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Market Street, Hyde, Tameside SK14 1AL

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tammy Sutherland

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Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1263766 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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