Children's home run by Wigan Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 1244946 1 Registered provider: Wigan Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, no children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager is currently vacant.

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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: 29 November 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: 1244946 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good 16/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1244946 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

No children have been living in the home since 12 July 2023. The home has continued to be registered with Ofsted during the period of closure. Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and two children have moved out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team and previous registered manager moved with one child to another of the provider’s homes. This provided the child with consistency of care. Recognising the child’s worries about moving to a new home, staff made a personalised booklet to prepare the child for the move. This ensured that the child had a positive move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate effectively on behalf of children. When one child expressed a wish to live with family, staff built positive relationships with the child’s family, which supported the social worker with ongoing assessments. This resulted in changes being made to the child’s care planning arrangements and the child moving to live with family.

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

Children’s risks are identified, understood and managed well by staff.

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

Children’s risk assessments are detailed and ensure that staff know what action to take when children go missing from home. Records indicate that staff follow the child’s missing-from-home plan.

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

The previous registered manager appropriately challenges wider agencies to ensure a joined-up approach to safeguarding. This means that strategies are monitored and adapted to meet children’s specific needs.

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

Weekly meetings with wider agencies take place to ensure that specialised support is available. For one child, this included input and support from mental health professionals.

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

Before children move into the home, a risk assessment is carried out. This considers the staff team’s ability to meet the needs of children when living together. These risk assessments include discussions with wider agencies to ensure that all risks and needs are considered before children move into the home.

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

The previous registered manager continues to do weekly safety checks on the home. The responsible individual provided assurances that a new fire risk assessment will be carried out following refurbishment of the home, before any children move in. Consequences are not used on a regular basis as part of the home’s behaviour management. When used, children’s views are not consistently captured. This Inspection report for children’s home: 1244946 4 means that the manager is unable to consider children’s views when evaluating the effectiveness of consequences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is no registered manager or staff team currently in post. The responsible individual is in the process of recruiting new managers and a staff team for the home. The responsible individual has a clear recruitment plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual has kept Ofsted up to date about the developments of the home and is working with senior leaders to consider possible children who may move into the home. He is aware that the home is not yet ready provide care for children as refurbishment work is ongoing. Inspection report for children’s home: 1244946 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when consequences are used, children’s views are captured in their records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: 1244946 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan WN1 1YN

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Inspector

Alexandra Pearson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1244946 7 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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