Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 1 Registered provider: Surrey 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 home is owned and run by a local authority. The home is registered to provide care for up to four children who experience emotional and/or social difficulties. Two children currently live at the home, and they were both present during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in January 2024. This is the first inspection of the home since registration.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager in post since 25 July 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from warm and nurturing relationships with staff who know them well. Staff talk to and about children with genuine care and respect. There is a sense of fun in day-to-day interactions. This helps children to make progress from their individual starting points, whether this be spending time with friends or going to a youth club. One child said: ‘I love it here, it is outstanding.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy a wide range of activities and lead an active lifestyle. Children’s interests and enthusiasms, such as football, art and growing vegetables, are nurtured. Children are encouraged to take on challenges and new experiences, such as completing The Race for Life. This helps children to build their confidence and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use their relationships to support children with the things they need help with. One-to-one key-work time is used to guide and advise children with things like starting school or the impact of past difficulties. However, a written record of this time is not always made, which undermines communication between adults and the quality of records for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have effective working relationships with partner agencies. Social care professionals provided positive feedback about the home and their communication. This supports children to receive coordinated care. One professional said: ‘I have worked with many children in care, and I don’t think in that time I have ever met a group of professionals who so clearly put the child at the centre of every decision.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s important relationships are valued. Staff talk to children about how time with family is going and actively support them to make sure it happens. This includes practical support with travel and advocating with the placing authority when needed. This promotes children’s sense of identity and belonging. Parents are positive about the care their children receive and the progress that they are making in the home. One parent said: ‘I couldn’t ask for a better home for them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to. They are involved in making decisions about their home, activities and care plans. For one child, this led to them having a change of key worker and for another a change in the way staff intervene when they need to be physically held. This helps children to feel valued and gives them a sense of agency. Regular children’s meetings are arranged, but the children rarely attend these so they are not effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with education and learning. They work closely with education professionals to try and ensure children’s needs are met when there are difficulties at school, or they are not able to attend. Staff advocate with education colleagues when Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 3 needed. For one child, this has meant they have been able to move to a school of their choice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is comfortable and child-friendly. However, some areas are beginning to look tired and require redecoration. Children’s artwork is displayed in communal areas. Children are involved in decisions about decorating and in personalising their rooms and other areas of the home, such as the Rainbow Room. This helps to give children a sense of pride and ownership of their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Electronic door alarms are used in the home at night. Staff feel this helps to keep children safe and one child is reassured by their alarm. However, the need for such alarms is not assessed or regularly reviewed. Furthermore, for one child there is no written consent from the placing authority for their use. Therefore, it is not clear whether their use is necessary and proportionate for each individual child.

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

Children feel safe and secure living in the home. They do not go missing. The support they have received since moving to the home has led to improvements in their emotional well-being and safety. One child, who prior to moving in had a history of going missing and was subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) order, has not gone missing from home and is no longer subject to this DOLS order due to the support of staff.

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

Staff have a thorough knowledge of individual children and their vulnerabilities They understand and follow appropriate protocols when children may be at risk. Strategies to support children are discussed in team meetings and daily handovers. This helps staff to take a consistent approach. Individual written risk assessments are regularly updated. However, the quality of these is variable and there are some inconsistencies.

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

When children experience distress or are upset, staff try to engage creatively with the children to understand what has upset them. Staff support children to manage difficult feelings and de-escalate tricky situations. This has sometimes been unsuccessful and there have been occasions when police have been called. Managers have recognised the need to help staff build on their skills in managing such situations and have arranged training to address this. This is helping to reduce the number and intensity of incidents of concern.

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

Strategies are in place to promote positive behaviour. Physical interventions, when used, are done so proportionately and help to keep children safe. Staff talk to children about what has happened to help them reflect and repair relationships. However, there is little evidence of consistent management oversight or that staff are always spoken to. This undermines managers’ ability to monitor and review serious incidents and provide consistent support for staff dealing with difficult situations. Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 4 Leaders and managers promote an ethos of safeguarding and child-centred practice. When new staff are employed, safer recruitment practices are used. Any concerns about staff practice are followed up thoroughly, in liaison with other relevant agencies when required. This helps ensure children receive safe care.

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

The registered manager left in July 2024. A new manager has been appointed but an application to register has not been received by Ofsted. This means there has been a delay in the regulator being able to assess the suitability of the new manager.

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

Leaders and managers have not ensured a prompt response to maintenance and repair. They have not consistently ensured that damaged fire doors are quickly repaired. This has the potential to lead to increased fire risk.

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

Staff speak positively about working in the home. There is a sense of teamworking, and the manager and deputies are present and available to staff. This helps create a positive environment in the home.

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

Not all staff receive regular supervision in line with company policy and the quality of induction and probation support for new staff has not been of a suitable standard. This has meant some staff have felt poorly prepared and had to ‘learn on the job’ and others have not had regular one-to-one time to reflect and develop.

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

Most, but not all, staff are up to date with core training. These shortfalls in staff induction, supervision and training undermine the process of building a strong and resilient staff team. The new manager has begun to implement improvements, but it is too early to see the impact of these.

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

The manager has not sought feedback from parents or other relevant parties to include in the most recent quality of care review. There is not a system in place for gathering feedback from parents to inform this review. This weakens the ability of managers to maintain a good understanding of the views of parents about the care of their children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager makes an application to register with Ofsted. 9 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation; and

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 20 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 6 undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that induction support is improved, that staff receive supervision and probation reviews in line with company policy and keep up to date with mandatory training.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(b)(i)(ii)) 20 November 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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— 20 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 7 meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure prompt attention to maintenance and repair, especially if not doing so may lead to increased risk to children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d)) 20 November 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s risk assessments are clear and detail the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that adults consistently record information about how they have supported children and understand how this will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the system they have in place to enable them to undertake the quality of care review provides for ascertaining and considering the opinions of parents in line with regulation 45(5). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: 2756164 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Surrey County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Quadrant Court, 35 Guildford Road, Woking GU22 7QQ

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Inspector

Jacob Robson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2756164 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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Inspector

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