Children's home run by Independent Living Services (North West) Limited in St. Helens

Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 1 SC431192

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Registered provider: Independent Living Services (North West) Limited

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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 managed by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in post.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 8 October 2024. Inspectors returned on 22 October 2024 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 2 This home was judged to have serious and widespread safeguarding concerns in relation to the protection of children at the full inspection carried out on 3 July 2024.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

As a result, compliance notices were issued under regulation 12, the protection of children standard and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit took place on 21 August 2024 to monitor action taken by the provider in meeting the steps in the compliance notices.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A case review was held following the visit, at which it was decided that the provider had taken sufficient action to meet the compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/07/2024 Full Inadequate 26/06/2023 Full Good 26/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 4

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inadequate

There are currently three children living in this home. Since the last inspection, no children have moved into or on from this home.

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inadequate

The quality of children’s experiences on a day-to-day basis is varied. Children have not received continuity of care from a stable staff team and manager. This has impacted on their overall experiences and progress living in this home.

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inadequate

There has been an incident between two of the children living in the home. There is an ongoing plan in place to support the repair of their relationship.

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inadequate

Education is well promoted. Two of the children are enrolled in college courses specific to their interests, and one child has recently started at a new school. This has had a positive impact on children’s self-esteem and aspirations for their future.

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inadequate

Children are registered with health professionals and are supported to attend appointments, as necessary. Records are maintained on the administration of medication.

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inadequate

Staff support children to see family and friends. Leaders and managers work flexibly to ensure that these arrangements are in the children’s best interests.

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inadequate

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs and try to engage children in things that interest them, such as going to the cinema and on shopping trips with staff. Children have meaningful incentives in place, which are adapted in consultation with the children.

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inadequate

Children have regular opportunities to share their views about the home and the care that they receive. When children have made a complaint, the interim manager has explored their concerns and ensured that children receive a formal outcome. This means that children know they have been listened to.

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inadequate

The home has good working relationships with other professionals involved in children’s care. However, some relevant plans and information were missing from children’s records. This hinders leaders and managers’ ability to demonstrate how the home’s care planning supports children to make progress against the placing authorities’ expectations. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 5

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

Children’s risk management plans do not provide staff with clear guidance to manage and reduce children’s risks effectively. Furthermore, staff were unclear about where to find the most up-to-date records and did not have access to the home’s computer system. This raises concerns about how staff can access the information needed to safely care for children.

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

Leaders and managers have failed to manage or minimise identified risks to children living in the home. On one occasion, a child left the home during the night. Staff were unaware of this until a third party informed them. This was not recognised as a safeguarding concern, and the provider failed to take any immediate action to prevent further occurrences of children leaving the home without staff’s knowledge.

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

There has been an incident between two children where staff have failed to take effective action. This resulted in the police being called, which leaves children at risk of criminalisation. Furthermore, there is no evidence to demonstrate that leaders and managers investigated this incident in order to ensure that any learning from this is embedded in practice.

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

There are inconsistencies in staff practice. For example, it was identified during the inspection that one child had obtained the password to the home’s internet, which they should not have had. Staff took action to address this during the inspection.

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

Leaders have informed relevant professionals, including the local authority designated officer, about matters of concern within the home. However, additional restorative work, to repair relationships between children and staff, has not been undertaken.

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

There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home since the last inspection. There are plans in place with actions for staff to follow if children were to go missing. However, it is not clear how often staff should have contact with children when they are in the community and when they should begin this procedure.

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

Safe recruitment procedures are in place to ensure that only suitable people work with children living in the home. Children are building positive relationships with new staff members, and as a result, children have been able to disclose information relating to their past experiences as they feel safe and able to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager for a significant period of time, which has impacted on the consistency of care provided to children. Although a new and experienced manager has recently been appointed and is due to start at the organisation in the coming weeks, the current management arrangements are poor and ineffective. This has had an adverse impact on children’s overall safety, progress and experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 6 Staff shortages have meant that the interim manager and deputy manager have worked a number of shifts in order to ensure that children are cared for by staff who know them well. While this is positive for children, this has contributed to shortfalls in the monitoring and oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff shortages have led to the home relying heavily on the use of agency staff. New and inexperienced staff have been left to work with agency staff. There have been occasions when all staff working in the home have been agency staff. This does not ensure that children are cared for by people who are familiar to them and have the experience and skills needed to ensure that they are kept safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have completed mandatory training to support them in their role. Not all agency staff have up-to-date records for their training and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

For example, leaders and managers have failed to ensure that all agency staff have appropriate first-aid training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Record-keeping within the home is poor. Leaders and managers’ monitoring of daily records has failed to address the clear shortfalls in recording in the home. Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that all risks have been suitably assessed. There have been delays in leaders and managers notifying Ofsted of some significant incidents within the home. The shortfalls in management oversight have led to ineffective action to address unsafe practice and ensure children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records and duty rotas provide conflicting information about which staff are on shift in the home. Leaders and managers have not ensured that there is an accurate roster in place that includes the actual hours worked by managers and staff. As a result, these documents cannot be relied on to identify when staff have been at work, should any safeguarding concerns arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has submitted a quality of care report. The report is descriptive but lacks evaluation. Furthermore, the report does not include feedback from children and external professionals in order to improve the care and experiences of children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not met all the requirements from the last inspection, and a number of requirements are repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Due to the serious concerns identified at this inspection, a restriction of accommodation notice was issued to restrict the provider from accommodating more children at this home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 7

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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 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that all staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that staff are able to recognise safeguarding concerns and take appropriate action to 5 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 8 keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that children’s risk management plans identify all known risks and have clear actions for staff to follow.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, they should ensure that risks of children leaving the property without staff’s knowledge are assessed and strategies are in place to manage and minimise this risk.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that all staff, including agency staff, have access to children’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that staff are familiar with and understand the risks and actions they are to take to keep children safe.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(c)(e)(f)(h)) 5 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 9 In particular, the registered provider must review management arrangements and ensure that there is someone with the suitable skills, knowledge and experience to manage the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that there are effective monitoring systems in place that provide oversight of the day- to-day running of the home, so that any shortfalls in staff practice can be identified and acted on.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must e nsure that it is clear which staff, including managers, are working in the home and that there is an accurate record of this.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must e nsure that there are sufficient staff on each shift who know the children and have the skills to safely meet their needs, including agency staff.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that children’s records are kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated. 5 December

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the full names of all staff and actual hours worked are recorded on the rota, including for the manager. 5 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 10 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality-of-care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider using feedback from children, families and professionals to inform an evaluation of the care that children receive.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated. 5 December

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (e)) 5 December

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 11

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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: SC431192 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Independent Living Services (North West) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 4 Ena Works, Volunteer Street, St. Helens, Merseyside WA10 2AY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Catherine Chandler

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC431192 13 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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