Children's home run by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 1 SC034012 Registered provider: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since November 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/05/2023 Full Inadequate 31/08/2022 Full Good 16/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Significant and prolonged leadership and management failings have led to inadequate care planning and poor experiences for children. The child currently living in the home is not making sufficient progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have been moved on from the home without adequate preparation. Decisions by senior leaders to move children have not always been made in line with their care plans. Some children were moved on from the home quickly to enable another child to move in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child’s move into the home was not well planned. The child was not given the opportunity to visit the home and meet staff before they moved in. On the child’s arrival, the home was undergoing refurbishment. This led to the staff having to take the child out of the home each day to allow work to continue safely. This was not a welcoming or positive start for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child says that they feel safe in the home and have staff who they trust and can talk to. Despite this, there is little evidence of the child making progress. Staff describe ‘containing’ or ‘babysitting’ the child rather than having any positive impact on them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child’s time lacks structure and routine. The child is allowed to get up as and when they want to and can sleep throughout the day. There are no routines around mealtimes, and staff do not sit down with the child to eat together. The child regularly misses meals and has an unhealthy diet. The child is allowed to vape in their bedroom and keeps vapes in their room. This compromises the child’s health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since moving into the home eight months ago, the child has not received any education. The child has a part-time timetable in a vocational training placement that they do not attend. There is no plan of informal learning in place to provide the child with the skills and motivation to access education, training or employment. This does not ensure that the child is provided with opportunities to learn or develop skills and is not adequately preparing them for becoming more independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The lack of a clear plan for the child, and inaction from staff, means that the child is not being helped to make progress in terms of their health and well-being, education and day-to-day living skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child has limited opportunities to meet peers and to get involved in regular social or leisure activities. This limits the child’s ability to develop positive peer relationships. The child spends time with staff. For their birthday, they had an overnight stay in London and a trip to an amusement park with two members of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 4

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

Responses to the child’s behaviours are not adequate. Some staff say they do not challenge the child or implement behaviour management strategies as they are anxious about the child’s response. Some staff have been assaulted and their anxiety about further assaults impacts on their ability to provide the child with the quality of care required to meet their needs.

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

The child’s written assessments and plans give staff the information they need to provide personalised care. Staff have regular one-to-one conversations with the child which focus on some of the goals detailed in their plans. However, some records contain professional jargon, which is not helpful to the child or to staff who are not trained in the model of care to be provided. Plans are not supporting staff to help the child to make sufficient progress.

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

When the child goes missing from the home, there is a swift and appropriate response from staff. Staff work with police and other agencies to ensure that the child is found and returned to the home safely.

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

Incidents of physical intervention are rare. When the child is held, available records demonstrate that this is appropriate and proportionate to keep the child and staff safe. However, management oversight of these incidents is not always dated. Therefore, it is unclear if these incidents have been reviewed in line with regulation.

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

There are gaps in the recording of serious incidents by agency staff. This means that there is no detailed written account of these incidents for managers to evaluate and ensure that practice is of sufficient quality to safeguard the child. Leaders and managers have not taken sufficient action to address this.

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

Leaders and managers are not ensuring that all serious incidents are notified to Ofsted as required by regulation. This limits Ofsted’s oversight of practice in the home. A requirement raised at the last inspection in relation to notifications of serious incidents has been restated.

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

In line with the child’s current court ordered restriction of liberty, external doors and windows are kept locked. Following incidents in the home, the kitchen is also sometimes locked at night for a limited period. While these restrictions are in place with the permission of the court for one child, senior leaders have admitted other children, who are not subject to these restrictions, for short lengths of time. This unnecessarily restricts children’s movement around the home, and insufficient consideration has been given by leaders and managers to the impact of these decisions on all children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inconsistent and ineffective leadership and management of the home and poor decision- making by leaders and managers have negatively impacted on children’s experiences Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 5 and progress. The home has not had a registered manager for a significant period. Since the last inspection, there have been several management changes in the home and senior leadership changes across the authority. The deputy manager is currently in day- to-day charge of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The child is cared for by a consistent staff team. Apart for the ongoing registered manager vacancy, the home now has a full team of permanent staff, and all staff have the required qualifications. A small number of agency staff are used when waking night staff are required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The deputy manager is supported by two experienced senior residential care workers. Staff say they work well as a team and receive good-quality support from the deputy manager and the senior care staff. However, staff also say that team morale is low. Senior leaders have failed to recognise the adverse impact on the team of the current care plan for the child and their decision-making in respect of children moving in and out of the home. Additionally, they have not ensured that staff receive the necessary support to enable them to carry out their roles effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Regular one-to-one supervision sessions and team meetings take place, which gives staff opportunities to discuss the child and practice in the home. These meetings and discussions have not been used effectively to improve practice in the home or to implement clear and consistent boundaries for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is limited evidence of management oversight of the care provided to children. Children’s care records lack evaluation and do not include the manager’s views of children’s experiences and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s quality of care review was not carried out within the expected time frame and lacks evaluation of the impact of the quality of care on children’s progress. It does not demonstrate that the views of children, families, staff and other professionals have been taken into consideration. This means that it is of limited use as a tool to improve the quality of care provided in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monthly visits are carried out by the independent person. The reports from the independent person provide some external evaluation and challenge to leaders and managers. However, despite the child living at the home for eight months, the independent person does not have permission to view the child’s bedroom, and this is noted in each report. This is not something that leaders and managers were aware of, and nothing has been done to address this. Consequently, this hinders how leaders and managers are using these reports to contribute to their oversight of the home and the improvements required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s statement of purpose has not been updated to reflect changes and has not been shared with Ofsted as required by regulation. This limits the regulator’s oversight of the home but has not impacted on the child’s experience or progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 6

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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, 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.

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Requirement Due date

*The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

children only move into the home when it is identified that their needs can be met safely alongside children already living in the home;

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Requirement Due date

there is clear rationale for decision-making when children move in and out of the home;

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Requirement Due date

children are well prepared for moving into and out of the home. 18 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 7 *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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(a)(b)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

there is sufficient management oversight of practice and the care provided to children;

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Requirement Due date

all staff, including non-permanent staff, have the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to meet the needs of all children living in the home;

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Requirement Due date

internal and external monitoring and review systems are used to identify shortfalls and improve the progress and experience of children. 18 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 30 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 8 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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;

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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)) 30 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)) 30 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 9 Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

children are provided with written guidance that details the home’s approach to the use and storage of cigarettes, e- cigarettes and related equipment by children, and the resources available to children to support smoking cessation;

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Requirement Due date

children eat a healthy, balanced diet at appropriate intervals throughout the day and that children are encouraged to eat communally, not in their bedrooms.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; 30 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 10 help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(ix)(x))

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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. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b)) 30 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

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

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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)) 30 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 11

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children’s care records are written in a way that is accessible to children. Each record should be signed and dated by the author of the record. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.3 and 14.4)

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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: SC034012 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tameside One, Market Place, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 6BH

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034012 13 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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