Children's home run by Lancashire County Council in Preston

Inspection report for children's home: SC039673 1 SC039673 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority children’s home. This home is registered to provide care for up to six children. At the time of the inspection, there were six children living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

A manager has been appointed but has not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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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: SC039673 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/06/2023 Full Good 15/06/2022 Full Good 25/01/2022 Full Inadequate 07/01/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: SC039673 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from well-planned moves into the home and out of the home. One child has returned home to their family and another child has moved out to semi- independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with children’s families to support family time. A parent said, ‘They have looked after [child’s name] really well, they have done everything I have asked and supported and helped me seeing her.’ Staff are supporting two children to spend a significant amount of time with their families. This helps children to maintain and rebuild important relationships, which support their sense of self and identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all the children attend mainstream school. However, all children are receiving alternative education during school hours. Staff are creative in finding educational opportunities that fit children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have a variety of fun activities to do outside of school hours. Staff and children take part in organised football games with staff. Staff also take children to the gym. Children talked about trips they have planned for later in the year. One child was thrilled as staff had taken him to see his favourite football team. Children have fun and build happy memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been some challenges with behaviour management. On the whole staff manage behaviour well. The stable, experienced staff team ensures that children have clear boundaries and are offered incentives for behaving well. This contributes to helping children to learn to make good choices for themselves as they grow up.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a purpose-built children’s home, and some elements of its design have an institutional impression. The bathrooms have poor ventilation which means that they frequently require treatment for mould caused by condensation. Some of the internal doors that lead to communal areas have locks. This may prevent children from having access to all areas of their home.

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

There are some worries about children going missing from home. When children are missing, they are at risk of significant harm. The manager and staff work closely with relevant partner agencies. They use their combined knowledge of children to help bring them home safely. Clear safety plans are in place and the incidents of missing from home have reduced. Inspection report for children's home: SC039673 4 Staff have all had relevant training to help them understand children’s specific risks. Staff are very clear about what action they need to take when there are safeguarding concerns. This means that staff know how to keep children safe.

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

Children have been at risk of criminal exploitation. The manager has ensured that staff have been trained in how to recognise signs of exploitation so that they have the skills to recognise it. Staff have worked in close partnership with the relevant agencies such as police and the complex safeguarding team to help build safety plans to keep children safe.

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

There have been some new staff recruited to work in the home. There are thorough safer recruitment checks to ensure that staff who care for children are safe and appropriate to do so.

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

Children know how to make complaints. A child has made a complaint to the manager. This was taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly. This means that children feel listened to, their worries are heard and treated with sincerity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A new manager has been in post since December 2023 but is not yet registered with Ofsted. The application was sent to Ofsted and was returned to the manager as some important details were missing. It has not yet been re-submitted. This is outside of the acceptable timeframe. Registration is a requirement for this role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are offered regular supervision, where they have good opportunity to discuss the children in their care. When casual staff work in the home, they are also offered supportive meetings with managers to help them reflect on their work. This benefits the children, as staff can reflect on how they are caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are all qualified or are training for the relevant qualification. Staff are offered other training alongside this to help them to tailor their care to the children’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff meet as a team monthly. They also meet regularly with external therapeutic professionals who have insights into the children’s psychological wellbeing. They offer support to help make sure staff can meet children’s emotional needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has a stable staff team who have worked together for a long time and communicate well with each other. Staff say that they ‘love’ their job. The happy motivated staff team provide good consistent care to the children who live in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff take the time to understand children’s backgrounds, different cultures, and religious needs. Childrens specific diets are catered to. Children’s rights are understood and respected. Inspection report for children's home: SC039673 5

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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, 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 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

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) and (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the person appointed to manage the home re-submits their application to become registered. 21 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

and any limitation placed on a child's privacy or access to any area of the home's premises— 21 June 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC039673 6 is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that internal locks on the doors in the communal areas in the home are removed.

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Recommendation

 The responsible person should ensure that the home remains up to date and homely particularly the bathrooms which are dated and attract mould due to poor ventilation. (The Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards. Paragraph 3.9 page 15)

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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: SC039673 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: PO Box 78, Preston PR1 8XJ

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Inspector

Cathy Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Paulette Forbes, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC039673 8 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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