Children's Home run by Cambridgeshire County Council in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 1 Registered provider: Cambridgeshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The local authority runs this home. It provides short breaks for up to four children with a moderate to severe learning disability. One of the four children can live at the home permanently.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 11 November 2023. A manager is in post and is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2022 Full Good 21/12/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 23/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of inspection, there were two children staying at the home. The home supports three children who have shared care arrangements, while the majority of the other children have short breaks. The home currently supports fifteen children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An advocate visits the home regularly. The advocate spends time with children. The advocate provides a report to the manager detailing their observations and conversations. This supports children to have their wishes and feelings heard.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer children a range of activities. The staff know the children well and understand what children enjoy. The manager and staff strive to ensure that all children have equal opportunities offered. Activities are planned based on children’s interests. Children enjoy swimming, visiting theme parks and arts and crafts.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their health. Some children have complex health needs. The staff understand children’s needs. A nurse visits the home routinely in order to support the staff in understanding and meeting children’s health needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and bright and has facilities to meet children’s needs. The home has undergone recent refurbishment to make the space more suitable.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s guide is not fully accessible for the children who stay at the home. There is a guide and a separate complaints procedure for children which is available. However, the format of the guide is not tailored to children with communication needs, so would not be understood by the majority of children who visit the home.

p.3

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

Staff understand the children’s risks. Children’s care plans and risk assessments are individualised and provide strategies for staff to support children. There have been no concerns in regard to children going missing from the home, bullying or being exploited.

p.3

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

Children have personalised goals to work towards. Staff identify targets for children to support their emerging independence. These targets provide different steps for the child to work towards which are in line with their abilities. This gives staff areas to focus on when supporting children during their stays.

p.3

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

Restraints are infrequent and proportionate; there has only been one restraint since last inspection. The staff are aware of children’s known behaviours and there are systems in place to monitor changing behaviours. There is a lack of management oversight following incidents of challenging behaviour. The manager’s comments are not always provided promptly, and they do not identify any learning from the Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 4 incident to ensure that staff managed the incident effectively and in order to prevent further incidents.

p.3

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

Safer recruitment processes are not consistently followed. Recent recruitment has led to less use of agency workers. However, gaps in staff’s employment histories are not always explored. The company’s policy for undertaking criminal records for staff who have lived overseas is not followed.

p.4

good

The manager joined the home as deputy manager in October 2023 and moved to become manager in November 2023. He is currently registering with Ofsted. The manager understands the strengths and weaknesses in the care provided.

p.4

good

Two fact-finding investigations have been carried out following incidents at the home. Both of these identified areas of staff practice which contributed to the incidents. Some actions were identified. However, in one report the action did not take place. In the other report, no action was identified regarding the identified poor staff practice. The staff member has not been spoken to in order to prevent further issues.

p.4

good

Appraisals for staff are undertaken, although these lack detail. The appraisals do not include feedback from professionals and children. This means there is no objective overview of the staff member’s performance and linked areas for development. Staff supervision sessions and team meetings take place regularly. This gives staff opportunities to discuss their roles and identify any learning needed.

p.4

good

There is a statement of purpose. However, this has not been updated since the registered manager left and a new manager started working at the home. This means that professionals and families reading this document do not have the most up-to-date information about the management of the home.

p.4

good

The manager’s quality of care review does not include feedback from children, families or professionals. This limits the effectiveness of identifying and driving improvements.

p.4

good

Professionals are positive about working with the manager and staff. They said that communication is good and that the staff know the children well. Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 5

p.4

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.

p.5

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—

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

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;

p.5

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)(f)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is management oversight following incidents that identifies learning to support staff practice, and that actions following investigations are identified and completed. 9 February 2024

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

p.5

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)(a)(d)) 9 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 6 In particular, ensure that all gaps in employment are explored and overseas criminal checks are carried out in line with the company policy.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

p.6

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—

p.6

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.

p.6

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)(b) (5)) 26 April 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

p.6

Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)) 9 February 2024

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide is provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  The registered person should ensure that annual appraisals include, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

p.6

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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 7 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: 2602980 8

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambridgeshire County Council

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sunley House, Summers Hill Drive, Papworth Everard, Cambridge CB23 3AB

p.8

Inspector

Leanne Lyon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2602980 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9