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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 1 Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City 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 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 has been vacant since 25 March 2024. An interim manager is now in post, but they have 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 requires improvement to be 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 is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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good

Date of last inspection: 26 September 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/09/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 3

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improvement to be good

Staff have good relationships with the child who lives in the home. Sometimes these relationships are changeable, but the child will seek out staff for reassurance and comfort. The staff conduct themselves with warmth, friendliness and care. These relationships have contributed significantly to the number of incidents in the home remaining low since the assurance inspection in January 2024. However, several issues have negatively affected the overall experiences and progress of the child.

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improvement to be good

Currently, the child is living with a high level of uncertainty about their future. Staff are supporting the child with this and advocate on their behalf when they feel the child is not being heard. The interim manager and staff work well with the wider group of professionals supporting the child. Staff provide emotional support when the child needs this and will offer distraction activities, such as trips out, to help them manage their emotions.

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improvement to be good

The child is still not accessing education despite there being a plan in place providing them with an educational package. The child’s engagement in education has been an issue for several months now, and staff have failed to encourage the child to attend school. Despite this non-attendance being known and understood, learning-based activities have not been provided as an alternative. This means the child is not accessing the curriculum, and neither are they able to learn through other activities provided in the home by staff. This lack of structured learning will adversely affect the child in the future.

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improvement to be good

The child is unable to access all areas of the home at all times of the day. There is a long-standing practice of locking the kitchen at night that has been in place for a prolonged period of time. There is no assessed risk that would require a restriction on the child’s movement around the home. This practice has been raised previously on two separate inspections but has still not been addressed by the provider.

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improvement to be good

There are some areas of the home that require redecoration. The provider has failed to ensure that repairs and maintenance are carried out in a timely way. This detracts from a homely feel and does not provide the child with a warm and welcoming place to live.

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improvement to be good

Difficult and unwanted behaviours from the child have decreased, and this is reflected in the low number of incidents since the last inspection. All staff are aware that current circumstances mean that they cannot physically intervene with the child Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 4 if an incident escalates. However, staff are confident in using de-escalation and distraction techniques if necessary to manage any incidents that happen.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments do not reflect all known risks. Some assessments are inaccurate, have not been reviewed and require updating. Specific concerns for the child are not reflected in risk assessments, and therefore, these risks have no mitigation in place. Furthermore, not all staff are aware of the content of existing risk assessments. Staff who do not know how to respond to risky situations leave the child in a vulnerable position.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not followed the missing-from-care protocol correctly. The child has been allowed to stay out overnight, which was not agreed as being safe, and this therefore left the child at risk. Despite knowing the whereabouts of the child, staff failed to check on the child’s well-being or ask the police to do so. Failure to report the incident properly meant that the interim manager was unaware of it happening, and they were therefore unable to respond effectively. The failures of staff left the child at risk.

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improvement to be good

There have been significant concerns around specific behaviours the child displays. There has been a recent and significant change of circumstances for the child, which affects the care they receive. Despite this, staff have not been equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to ensure that they are better placed to meet the child’s needs. This means that the child may not receive the care they need consistently from all the staff.

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good

Leaders and managers have inconsistent oversight of the home. The interim manager has been in post since March 2024, and while some improvements have been made, this has only happened very recently. Management arrangements before March 2024 were ineffective. Poor monitoring and oversight of the home meant that serious incidents have not been managed properly. This means that opportunities to reflect and learn have been overlooked, and opportunities to improve care in the home have been lost.

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good

An allegation against a member of staff was not managed in line with the provider’s policies. Due to ineffective oversight from leaders and managers, the allegation was also not reported to Ofsted in line with regulatory requirements. This meant the regulator did not have oversight of the allegation to ensure that the child had been safeguarded effectively. The interim manager is now aware of the situation and is taking appropriate action.

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good

Some of the provider's training has not yet been completed by staff. There are also inconsistencies in the frequency of supervision sessions the staff receive and staff annual appraisals. One member of staff is outside of the timescale allowed for the Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 5 completion of the required level 3 diploma. Poor management arrangements and oversight has allowed this to happen without being identified.

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good

The sharing of staff teams across two homes has now ceased. The home now has a dedicated core team that solely works with the child. Staff and the interim manager feel this is better, not just for the child but also for staff. It means consistent staff now provide consistent care to the child. Staff are invested in the child’s future.

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good

The interim manager recognises the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They are open, honest and realistic about the task ahead. They receive additional support and guidance from experienced leaders and managers while implementing new, more thorough oversight systems in the home. They are committed to this being a long-term position for them, and as such, they have submitted their application to become the registered manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments contain all known risks for children and give clear guidance to staff.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, they must ensure that missing-from-care procedures are correctly followed so that when a child is missing, they are reported as such and the correct procedures are followed.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been restated. 30 June 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

promotes their welfare. 30 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 7 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must have systems in place to review documents and have thorough widespread oversight of the service. The registered person should ensure that all notifiable events are sent to the regulator at all times.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that staff have the appropriate training they need to ensure that they can meet the needs of the child.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children have opportunities to learn, even when they do not attend school. 30 June 2024

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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; is necessary and proportionate; 30 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 8 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. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children have full access to the home unless there are specific reasons why this would put them at risk of harm.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff complete the relevant diploma qualification in the designated timescales. 30 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; 30 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 9 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff receive supervision sessions and annual appraisals in line with regulations and the provider’s policies.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home has a welcoming and homely feel. Any redecoration or repair should be completed in a timely way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2712872 10

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 11 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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