Children's Home run by Trusted Care Services Group Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 1 Registered provider: Trusted Care Services Group Limited Full inspection

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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 company. It is registered to provide care for one child with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This was the home’s first inspection since it was registered in September 2024. The previous manager left the home shortly after the home was registered. A new manager has been appointed and has submitted her application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously registered

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 2

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improvement to be good

Despite only been registered for a short time, the home has had management changes, and shortfalls in decision-making by leaders and managers have impacted on the operation of the home.

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improvement to be good

One child has recently moved into the home. The staff ensured a positive transition into the home for the child and visited them before they moved in to ensure that their move went as smoothly as possible.

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improvement to be good

Staff have created a welcoming environment, which has enabled the child to adjust well to their new home. There are photos on display around the home from the various activities that the child has taken part in. This is helping the child to develop a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Interactions between staff and the child are positive. Staff are supporting the child to develop trusting relationships and are helping the child to feel valued and understood.

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improvement to be good

Staff have registered the child with appropriate health professionals, such as a GP, dentist and optician. The child has been supported to get new glasses to help them in their daily life. This ensures that the child’s health needs are being met.

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improvement to be good

Insufficient action has been taken to ensure that the child has access to educational provision inside or outside the home. The manager has taken some initial steps to look at education provision locally, but there has been limited challenge to the placing authority. This does not ensure that the child’s educational needs are being met and reduces opportunities for the child to achieve their aspirations.

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improvement to be good

No professionals from the child’s placing authority have visited the child since they moved into the home. The placing authority social worker was not present when the child first moved into the home and has not visited them since. There has been insufficient challenge by leaders and the manager to the placing authority to try and address this.

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improvement to be good

Since the registration visit, a lock has been fitted to the kitchen door so that it can be locked at night. This not only restricts the child’s movement around the home but has the potential to compromise the child’s safety in the event of a fire. Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 3 The home uses risk management plans effectively to highlight and manage potential risks to the child. Plans are reviewed and updated as required and provide staff with clear guidance on how to keep the child safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff have started to help the child to understand their behaviours. Although this is in its initial stages, this support is beginning to have a positive impact on the child’s ability to reflect on and manage their actions. The support provided is helping the child to develop self-awareness and make more positive choices, contributing to their overall progress and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment practices implemented by leaders and managers are not robust. Interview processes lack transparency, and the required checks to verify the suitability of staff to work with children have not been carried out.

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good

There were changes to the management team before the child moved into the home. The current manager was previously the deputy manager and knows the staff team well.

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good

During the inspection, information emerged that had not been shared with the regulator at the registration visit regarding the setting operating as an unregistered children’s home prior to registration.

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good

Staff like working in the home. They say they feel well supported in their work and highlight the collaborative team-working as a strength. They are committed to improving outcomes for the child.

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good

Staff supervisions are thorough and constructive, allowing for reflection on practice and professional development. However, supervision practices are continuing to be embedded and their impact cannot yet be fully measured.

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good

The availability of leaders is limited as they are employed in full time roles with other organisations. The arrangements for supervision of the manager and responsible individual are not robust.

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good

Recording practices and systems are continuing to be embedded. Several records relating to the child are missing, including a register of children as required by regulation. The home’s statement of purpose has not been updated to reflect management changes and the correct registration certificate was not on display. This indicates a lack of management oversight of practice in the home. The manager is taking action to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 4

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they receive the relevant care plan when a child moves into the home in a planned way, and that any delays are escalated with the child’s placing authority. 8 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children are supported to make measurable progress towards achieving their education 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 a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support through the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s daily routines encourage and promote their engagement in education. 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 5 In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is sufficient challenge to placing authorities to ensure that children are visited in line with statutory timescales. 8 January 2025

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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;

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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)) 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure children have access to communal areas of the home, including the kitchen.

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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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the correct details for the manager are included in the updated statement of purpose. 8 January 2025

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is a register of each child who has lived at the home. 8 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 8 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 7 the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that safe recruitment practices are followed in the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any changes to the fire risk assessment that prevent evacuation in the event of a fire are reviewed by a competent person. 8 January 2025

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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: 2751230 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Trusted Care Services Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 3, 2 The Colony Buildings, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow SK9 4LY

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Inspector

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 9 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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