Children's home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033389 1 SC033389 Registered provider: Leeds City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a local authority. It offers care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home. All four children were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2019 and is suitably qualified for the role.

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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: 21 November 2023

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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: SC033389 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2023 Full Good 14/02/2023 Full Good 01/11/2021 Full Good 18/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC033389 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in this home. They like to spend time individually with staff and enjoy activities such as long-distance bike rides, walks in the countryside and days out to the seaside. These meaningful activities are helping children to develop trust in the staff. Occasionally, children take part in activities as a group, which helps them to develop social skills with their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have good relationships with the children. When children need support, staff follow children’s individualised care plan and deliver care in a reassuring and nurturing way. This ensures that the children feel valued and listened to when they need it the most.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager advocates strongly on the children’s behalf when there are barriers to learning. This ensures that the right plans are in place to help children to learn and achieve. Consequently, progress has been made in terms of the children’s attendance and commitment to their education. Two children have 100% attendance, and one is the bullying ambassador for the school. One teacher said, ‘The child is doing amazingly well from when they started at the school.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to see their families and friends. Plans help with the structure and routine around these visits. During family time, staff have the children’s best interests at heart. Children are aware of this and openly speak to staff about how family time makes them feel.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and well equipped. However, parts of the home are not welcoming, and some of the doors are dirty and dusty. Numerous small holes in the walls and damage to a doorframe have not been repaired in a timely manner. The level of cleanliness in parts of the home does not teach children that cleaning is an important life skill. Furthermore, one child’s bedroom carpet is stained. The lack of attention from staff to this means that children are not being provided with a homely environment in which to live.

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

Children’s risk assessments and safety plans are reviewed and updated regularly by leaders. Therefore, there is good oversight of the children’s care by the home’s manager. Care plans provide staff with clear actions to follow to reduce the risk of harm to the children.

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

Consequences are restorative in nature and are in no way punitive. Staff speak to the children about their actions in a way that is non-blaming. This helps children to understand and regulate their behaviours better. Furthermore, children can reduce any reparations through positive and restorative engagement with staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033389 4 Missing-from-home incidents have reduced since the last inspection. Staff follow protocols in place to ensure that the children are found and returned to the home as safely and quickly as possible. Children are welcomed warmly, and discussions take place as to why they went missing to reduce repeat occurrences.

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

All the children are making progress from their starting points. This is because staff work consistently and are positive role models in the children’s lives. Through these meaningful relationships, children are engaging positively in one-to-one sessions with staff. This has had a positive effect on children’s engagement in youth justice services. This joined-up working reinforces safety messages to children. This helps them to have the knowledge and understanding of how risk-taking behaviours can and will impact on their futures.

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

Physical interventions are used as a last resort according to children’s behaviour management plans. The records of holds provide a clear overview of the strategies that staff have used to de-escalate the incident. Staff are spoken with afterwards and potential triggers for children are identified. However, some records do not have any evidence of children being spoken with following a hold. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that the child is okay, get their opinions on what happened, and to rebuild any damaged relationships with staff.

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

There has been no progress made to children and staff having adequate means of evacuating the building if there is a fire at night. Fire exits are routinely locked during the night, which means that children rely on staff with keys to enable them to exit the building. Furthermore, occasionally, the children smoke in their bedrooms and will cover their smoke detectors to avoid staff being aware. To reduce the likelihood of fire, there are regular fire checks carried out. Bedrooms are checked daily, and smoking paraphernalia and any obstruction to fire alarms are removed by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s manager and deputy manager work well together to provide strong leadership and management in the home. Together, they ensure that all staff are supported well in their roles. They lead by example and are committed to positive outcomes and experiences for the children. This is reciprocated by the staff, who all speak highly of both managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are cared for by competent and experienced staff. Staff receive good training and development opportunities to enhance the care that they provide to the children. Staff are clear and aware of their safeguarding responsibilities to children and work hard to ensure that children are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision sessions are reflective and focus on staff practice. This helps with staff development as it gives them the opportunity to adapt their ways of working to better meet the children’s needs. Leaders and managers reward the good work and commitment that staff have towards the children, which ensures that staff feel valued and supported in their roles. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033389 5 Leaders and managers are aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses, and the monitoring and review systems in place highlight any deficits. This enables the manager to act on any shortfalls without delay.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All professionals and families said that there are no concerns with communication with staff at the home. One parent said that their child is making great progress, and this is because of the help and support from the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers advocate well on the children’s behalf during any meetings about their care or future. This means that the children’s voices are heard and that necessary and relevant changes are made promptly to children’s care plans. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033389 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

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(b)) 17 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(viii)) 17 August 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are given the opportunity to talk following any physical interventions that take place. This should be done no longer than five days after the hold happens. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60) Inspection report for children’s home: SC033389 7

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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: SC033389 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Merrion House, Merrion Centre, Leeds LS2 8LX

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Inspector

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033389 9 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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