Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 1 SC067757

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were four children living in the home.

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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: 19 December 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: SC067757 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2023 Full Good 09/08/2021 Full Inadequate 04/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. They are very settled, and the staff team ensures that they have access to a wide range of positive experiences. All the children recently went away on a summer holiday together and speak fondly of the happy memories this created for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a sound understanding of children’s needs and communicate well with children, helping them to reflect and appropriately share their wishes and feelings. Children benefit from being looked after by a stable staff team and can identify preferred, trusted adults to seek support from.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are supported to engage in education and have clear plans in place to promote their attainment. One child attends the provider’s registered school and benefits from a bespoke education package while a suitable school is being identified for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence skills and self-care in accordance with their individual plans. Staff encourage children to learn practical skills and help them to understand the importance of preparing to move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are appropriately registered with healthcare professionals and receive the care and support they require to improve their health outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to therapeutic support and receive this without delay. One child has benefited from high-quality life-story work, which has helped them to understand their early life experiences. The registered manager has had a significant role in supporting the child during this work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their relationships with family members and maintain connections with adults from their past. This helps children to stay in touch with people who are important to them. Staff communicate well with family members and ensure that they are kept up to date about children’s progress.

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

Children are protected from harm and live in a safe and stable home. Consequently, there have been very few safeguarding concerns since the last inspection.

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

Staff promote clear expectations and boundaries for children and support children to make informed choices in their lives. Staff recognise the impact that past trauma has on children. They are well informed and make skilful use of strategies that help children to manage their feelings and emotions. Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 4 Children have positive relationships with each other, and the management team carefully thinks about who should live in the home to make sure children’s needs are compatible. The impact of this is that children feel very settled and interact well with each other.

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

Staff who are new to the home are appropriately vetted and benefit from a clear induction. All staff undertake a wide range of training, and this helps them to provide the right support and care for children. Some staff have not completed all the training the provider regards as mandatory. The management team has already taken proactive action to ensure that this is completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a strong registered manager who demonstrates a good awareness of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Staff and other professionals praise the support they receive from the manager. The social worker for one child told the inspector, ‘The manager is very effective at sharing information and understanding children’s physical, emotional and mental health needs.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has recently started to develop some new procedures for embedding consistency across the home and within the wider organisation, for example a clear protocol for supporting and understanding children’s emotional and mental health needs. Importantly, this approach is based on learning from the experiences of supporting children who have lived in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a good awareness of the progress that children have made and recognise the important role they have in children’s lives. The staff team is well established, and this means that children benefit from consistent and familiar adults. Staff speak fondly of the satisfaction they receive in helping children to grow and develop while they live in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team mostly uses well-informed judgements to support children’s presenting needs and provide a positive environment for children. However, on one occasion, staff did not carry out their responsibilities in accordance with the expectations of their role. As a result, children were able to take the keys for two of the home’s vehicles and enter them, subsequently turning on the ignition. While managers have clear expectations about the storage and management of household keys, staff practice is not consistent and the key safe has been left open on at least one other occasion since the previous incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has ensured that significant incidents are notified to Ofsted, but sometimes these are delayed, which undermines regulatory oversight. While the home manager was on annual leave, there was a serious safeguarding incident, and the manager covering the home did not complete a notification. Although the home manager recognised this as a result of quality assurance monitoring, this was not until nearly three months later. Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 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, 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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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 an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 4 October 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should be responsible for ensuring that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures, including ensuring that the staff office is suitably locked when not in use and all household keys are securely stored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20) Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 6

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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: SC067757 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coach House, White House Court, Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard LU7 1FD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Rudman

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Inspectors

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Cassie Martin, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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