Children's home run by Milton Keynes City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC463692 1 SC463692 Registered provider: Milton Keynes Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a local authority. It is registered to provide long-term care for up to eight children with learning difficulties and physical disabilities. At the time of the inspection, there were four children living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2020 and is suitably qualified.

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 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: SC463692 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2023 Full Good 07/03/2022 Full Good 26/06/2019 Full Good 15/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC463692 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved on from the home. There was a robust transition plan in place to support this child’s move. Shortly after this, another child was welcomed to the home. The circumstances for this child moving to the home were very sensitive and an unexpected change for them. This was managed very well to support the child during this time of difficulty.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and children have lovely relationships. The staff are attentive to children’s needs and their individual communication styles. These relationships give children security, and enable the children to rebuild relationships with their families where these may have previously been strained.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children are attending education and making progress. When a child may have missed education due to health priorities, the staff have provided learning in the home to ensure that the child still has some form of education. Relationships between the staff and school staff are effective and they work in collaboration.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have complex needs and multiple learning disabilities. The staff work with children’s families and professional networks to ensure that children’s health needs are met, and this can often result in changes to how children need to be cared for or supported. Most children’s plans are updated accordingly to ensure that these changes are reflected. However, there has been a delay in updating one child’s plans to ensure that staff practice reflects the care being given to the child.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support children to express their views in various ways, including using ‘wishes and wonders’ postcards, where children can come up with ideas and suggestions and make changes. For example, one child wanted to change their hair colour and was able to express this to staff using paint and verbal prompts to complete a postcard.

p.3

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

The home is spacious, bright and well furnished. The children’s personalities are reflected in their bedrooms and the communal areas, with their pictures, certificates and artwork displayed.

p.3

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

The registered manager has appropriately consulted with the local authority safeguarding team following a staffing concern. Appropriate action has been taken to review the matter and learning identified for the staff has been followed through. The staff are all aware of their roles and responsibilities in regard to the safeguarding of children and have regular training and discussions to refresh this knowledge. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463692 4 The staff support children well during their times of emotional difficulty. Very rarely, some children may need physical support from staff to be safer. This is done sensitively, and children and staff are spoken with following any incidents to reflect, explore their feelings and check their well-being.

p.3

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

Safeguarding arrangements and risk plans are in place to prevent children going missing from the home and to ensure their safety when in the community.

p.4

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

Staff help children to think about the impact they have on each other as part of shared living. Children’s views are sought to review this and ensure that they feel safe and happy in their home together.

p.4

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

Positive behaviour is encouraged and praised by the staff. However, when a consequence is used by staff to support children’s behaviours, this is not always restorative, and records are not completed fully to demonstrate the registered manager’s oversight and discussions with children to reflect on the consequence. The registered manager has recognised this and has started to make changes to how consequences are used. These changes are in the early stages of being implemented to support children.

p.4

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

There are shortfalls in safer recruitment processes to ensure that staff are suitably vetted before they work with the children. As a result, some staff, including agency staff, do not have the required checks in place to ensure that they are appropriate to work in the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff work well as a team and ensure that they communicate effectively to provide the best care and experiences for the children. They are aware of children’s goals and targets and work with the children to support their progress and independence so that they have skills to take with them into adulthood, such as doing their own laundry and managing some of their personal care needs.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff feel well supported by the managers, and each other. They have regular supervision, appraisals and team meetings. They also utilise external professionals and seek guidance for specialist tasks. For example, a dedicated nurse advises staff and provides training for delegated healthcare tasks.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has effective monitoring systems in place to ensure that the children are making progress, kept safe and enjoying their experiences.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals and children’s families is very positive. There is good communication between the staff, school staff, families and professionals involved with the children. One teacher praised the collaborative working, saying, ‘We work really well together for the best outcomes for the children.’

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new independent person has recently commenced monthly visits to the home. The registered manager has plans for how these visits will be used to enhance the Inspection report for children’s home: SC463692 5 review of the quality of care. However, these plans are not yet embedded, so this requirement will be repeated.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose has been updated. However, systems in place to ensure that this is sent to the regulator in a timely way have still not been put in place. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463692 6

p.5

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.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

p.6

Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

p.6

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)(b) (3)(d))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that safer recruitment processes for all staff who work with the children are completed. 29 February 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 29 February 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

p.6

Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person— 29 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC463692 7 if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a) (5))

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and that records are completed in full. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure effective care-planning and strong working relationships between the staff of the home and the placing authority to ensure the success of placements. The registered person should ensure that care plans are updated when changes occur to reflect staff practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 11.2)

p.7

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: SC463692 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Milton Keynes Council

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Saxon Court, 502 Avebury Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 3HS

p.8

Inspector

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC463692 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.

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