Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 1 Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager position is vacant. The home has recruited a manager who is not yet registered with Ofsted. The manager has been in post since July 2023.

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Inspection date: 2 February 2024

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

The child living in the home has relationships of a varying nature with staff. The child readily shares their views and opinions and has recently started to share their feelings with selected staff members. This is regarded as progress by staff and other professionals involved in the child’s care. This progress is attributed to the resilience and consistency of staff in the home, which has created an environment for the child where they have started to trust adults.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, arrangements have been made to enable the child to access alternative education both in and out of the home. The timetable is not the statutory number of hours the child should be in education. However, it is an improvement as previously the child did not attend education at all. There is a continuous review of these arrangements, which remain flexible to meet the needs of the child.

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Findings from the inspection

Prior to the last inspection, the child had a court order removed which restricted their liberty. This was significant progress for the child at the time. However, there has recently been an increase in safeguarding incidents, which has meant this order has been reinstated. Appropriate measures are being taken in the home to comply with the restrictions of the order while allowing the child to have as much freedom of movement as possible in a safe way.

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Findings from the inspection

The home does not currently have a registered manager. The manager post was filled in July 2023 but the manager has not yet registered with Ofsted. The manager does not currently have sufficient oversight of the home. This means that significant incidents have not been reported to the regulator as they should be. It also means that other incidents have not had appropriate oversight and the management footprint on documents is inconsistent. This has led to some documents being out of date and of poor quality.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager has not ensured that staff have completed all mandatory training. One staff member who is currently working through their probationary period does not have a completed induction record and their supervision minutes could not be produced. Alternative arrangements have been made for this staff member to be supervised and a plan is in place to ensure that they receive the support needed to complete their probationary period safely.

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Findings from the inspection

The child living in the home currently has an increased staffing ratio. To meet this need, the home uses agency staff. The child has an existing relationship with these agency staff members, which affords the child consistent care. However, the agency staff are trained in different behaviour management strategies to the permanent staff. This could lead to conflicting methods being used should the need arise. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 3 Leaders and managers addressed this concern during the inspection and a plan has been put in place to manage this risk.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, there has been no improvement to the garden area at the rear of the home, which is still not in a safe state to be used by the child. This was a recommendation of the last inspection and due to the lack of progress a further requirement has been made following this assurance inspection. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/08/2023 Full Good 31/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/07/2022 Full Inadequate 01/02/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider—

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been restated. 29 February 2024

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h)))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must have systems in place to review documents and have thorough, comprehensive oversight of the service. 29 February 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 6 In addition, the registered person must ensure that all notifications that meet the criteria of regulation 40 are notified to the regulator in the required timescale.

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Requirement Due date

In further addition, the registered person must ensure that staff training is up to date.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are able to access and use the garden area of the home. 29 February 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the behaviour management strategy is understood and applied at all times by staff. It must be kept under review and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Gail McGann, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2599994 8 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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Inspector

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