Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Milton Keynes

Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 1 SC391379 Registered provider: Benjamin UK Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private organisation owns and manages this home. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were four children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 6 December 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/12/2022 Full Good 05/05/2021 Full Good 26/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff demonstrate a sound understanding of children’s needs and children have made good progress from their starting points. The environment is homely and well decorated. Children’s wishes and feelings are heard and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a stable staff team and there is infrequent use of agency staff. Consistent and predictable responses from staff help children feel settled. Staff work well together and they support children to explore a wide range of interests and social activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children are engaging and achieving well in education. One child’s educational engagement is causing concern. The registered manager has proactively addressed this and there has been some important progress recently. Staff prioritise making educational opportunities and experiences available to all children. A member of staff at the virtual school said that the manager ‘is fantastic at supporting school, is clear about her expectations and she knows what a good education looks like’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from therapeutic input when this is required and every child has a monthly child-focused meeting to consider their individual needs and progress. The home’s linked therapist has demonstrated exceptional commitment to one child in particular. They have visited the home on nearly a dozen occasions to try and build a positive relationship with the child. As a result, this child has recently started to engage in therapeutic work and there have been glimmers of progress in several areas of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The cultural diversity in the home is celebrated and this is important for children and staff. Staff support children to respond positively to diversity. They appropriately challenge children’s values and ethical standpoints when necessary to promote equality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Recently, there have been concerns about children’s possessions going missing in the home. Staff have responded robustly, for example by holding individual and group conversations with children. For one child, this has undermined their sense of trust and security in the home. Managers and senior leaders have a clear strategy in place to address this.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The response to children who go missing from the home is generally good. Staff are curious about children’s actions when they are missing and therapeutic key-work sessions are routinely carried out to explore this further. However, staff have not always followed one child’s missing-from-home protocol and on one occasion this caused unnecessary delay in them being reported as missing. On several occasions, Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 4 staff have not followed children immediately when they have left the home without authorisation or proactively looked for children when they are missing, due to staffing arrangements at the time. This shortfall has not had a direct impact on children’s welfare.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home uses a range of risk assessment tools and resources to understand and evaluate children’s individual needs. Staff ensure that these documents are regularly updated with important information on how to keep children safe. Children’s wishes and feelings are included in their plans.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The management team responds appropriately when allegations are made against staff. Thorough investigations are carried out in a timely manner, involving external safeguarding professionals when necessary.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have high aspirations for children. Clear boundaries promote a sense of safety and well-being for children. Children are supported to take appropriate risks in accordance with their age. Staff are strong advocates for children and there is a restorative approach to behaviour management that encourages children to learn and reflect.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Managers and staff have developed good links with local authorities and safeguarding agencies. One social worker spoke particularly positively about the effective communication and joint working and complimented the home’s proactive approach.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

On the whole, safer recruitment practice ensures that all staff employed at the home are safe to work with children. However, one staff member’s recruitment records do not demonstrate that managers have taken all reasonable steps to explore their reasons for leaving all previous positions involving work with children or vulnerable adults. This removes an important level of scrutiny with regard to staff conduct and performance in previous relevant roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The management team works effectively with placing authorities and other agencies to promote positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a wide range of training and can access further training to develop skills and interests identified as part of the appraisal process. Most staff have completed all core training and while there were some gaps in refresher training, managers have a plan in place to address this. Supervisions and appraisals are carried out in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team is clear about the plans for individual children. They are aspirational and recognise the importance of contextual progress, understanding that progress for children is unique and reflective of their individual circumstances. Managers and staff celebrate all achievements and children respond well to this. Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 5 The placement ending for one child was unplanned and the communication around this ending was not child-centred. Managers were not directly responsible for this but took steps to try and make amends by meeting with the child after the move to make the ending a more positive experience for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported and have confidence in the management team. The morale in the home is good. Staff feel motivated to support children to reach their potential and recognise the important role they have in improving children’s life chances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have not notified Ofsted of all serious events. This limits the regulator’s ability to monitor the management response to incidents. In one example, a serious event was not notified, despite a similar but less serious event having been notified only weeks before. The registered manager was on annual leave at the time and has put plans in place to provide refresher training for all staff about notifiable events. Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 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, 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 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is a robust response from staff to ensure that children return safely when they go missing. 1 January 2024

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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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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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;

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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

a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or 1 January 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 7 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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) (2)(a) (3)(d)) 1 January 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand and help children to understand what makes a healthy, nurturing relationship. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.10)

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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: SC391379 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coach House, White House Court, Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard LU7 1FD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Rudman

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Inspector

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC391379 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 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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