Future Hub Limited

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 1 Future Hub Limited Registered provider: Future Hub Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and operated by a private provider. The service provides up to eight group living premises and one single occupancy premises that are limited to accommodating looked after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support for 10 children aged 16 and 17. The service provides between five and 15 hours of support to each child each week. One premises has a staff member present 24 hours a day. Children living in other accommodation receive outreach support.

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provider

The service manager registered with Ofsted in December 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 21 October 2024 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 23 to 25 October 2024.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements.

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Summary of findings

Children living in this supported accommodation are making good progress in their education and in preparation for adulthood. Their views are regularly sought by the staff team and used to develop support plans which help children to achieve their goals.

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Summary of findings

The managers monitoring and recording systems are not yet effective. This has led to shortfalls in the quality of children’s support plans and risk assessments.

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Summary of findings

Children’s accommodation is not consistently well maintained and this impacts on some children’s experiences. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children living in this supported accommodation are making good progress in preparation for adulthood. They are supported by familiar staff to learn new life skills. Staff facilitate group activities such as weekly cook-and-eat sessions, sports in the local park and special treats. Children spoke positively about their experiences living with this provider.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are supported to develop positive and meaningful relationships with staff, peers and the wider community. Staff work closely with other agencies, such as the Refugee Council, to help children to reconnect with their loved ones and their cultural and religious communities. This helps children to develop a sense of belonging in their new surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are supported to register with specialist health services which understand their specific needs. When required, staff support children to attend their appointments to ensure their health needs are met. However, children’s support plans and case records do not consistently reflect this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children whose first language is not English receive support and use apps to help them understand information and communicate with staff. The provider carefully considers children’s cultural, religious and linguistic needs when placing a new child in their accommodation. They identify accommodation where children share the same beliefs. This provides children with familiarity when they first arrive in their accommodation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Managers and staff regularly seek children’s views about the quality of the support they receive. Children’s views are also used to develop their support plans and individual risk assessments. However, for one child who expressed dissatisfaction with their placement location, staff failed to recognise the importance of providing an advocate to help them understand their rights.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Education is prioritised in this service. All the children attend college and are making good progress with their studies. Children receive support to enrol at college when they first arrive in their accommodation. Staff and managers attend parents’ evenings to help them understand children’s progress and any barriers that they need support to overcome.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

When children are ready to move on from the service, staff and managers support them to apply for their new home or in some instances to seek alternative support arrangements. This helps children to have a positive ending to their placement. However, the provider has not yet formalised children’s moving on plans. Also, the provider does not contribute to children’s life-story work. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 3

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How well children are helped and protected

Children’s accommodation is not consistently clean or well maintained. Repairs and remedial works are not carried out in a timely manner. In some instances, the standard of repairs is not adequate. Managers’ health and safety monitoring is not sufficient and has failed to identify key concerns. For example, one child had purchased an electric radiator which was a fire hazard. This had not been identified during the weekly health and safety check. In addition, some children’s bedroom furnishings were broken or in a poor state of repair. This does not provide children with a safe, comfortable or nurturing environment to live in.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff and managers are aware of children’s vulnerabilities. They confidently describe the action that they take to keep children safe and how they teach children about personal safety. However, children’s individual safety plans do not reflect all their known risks or how staff will manage and reduce these risks. This does not provide children or agencies with a comprehensive understanding of each child’s safety plan. This shortfall in records also increases the likelihood of an inconsistent response to risk management.

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How well children are helped and protected

When new risks to children emerge, staff and managers follow safeguarding protocols. They work with other agencies to develop a prompt and meaningful response. Children understand the action that staff and managers will take when they are at risk of harm or exploitation and the reasons. For one child, the provider recognised that the location of the accommodation was an emerging risk. They supported the child to move to a different area.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children said that they feel safe and receive good support. They know how to seek help from a trusted adult outside of their support sessions and provided examples of how the out-of-hours staff respond quickly to their needs.

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How well children are helped and protected

Key-worker sessions take place regularly. However, staff have missed opportunities to discuss relevant areas of concern around risks with the children. For example, one child was assaulted in the community. Following the incident, staff failed to hold a key-worker session with the child about personal safety. Furthermore, this incident was not recorded in the child’s support plan or safety plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager does not carry out formal monitoring of the service. This hinders her ability to assess the effectiveness of the service and to understand areas of strength and areas for development. This has led to shortfalls in children’s support planning and risk assessment recording. For example, contextual safeguarding risks for the cohort of children living with this provider are not reflected in their plans. In addition, the manager has failed to ensure that the accommodation provided to children is well maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Although the manager regularly consults with children, the quality of support review does not report on their views about the services. This report does not provide any Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 4 evidence of consultation with staff. There is no information about relevant research and how this may be used to better support children to achieve positive outcomes. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to demonstrate how she consults with children and staff. In addition, the manager does not record how she uses research carried out by the Refugee Council to inform her own and staff’s knowledge and understanding of children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has failed to update key documents such as the workforce development plan and the behaviour management policy. Due to the lack of review, these documents do not reflect the organisation’s structure or practice. For example, staff fine children who do not consistently follow the rules. The provider’s policy does not reflect that fines can be used as a consequence. Equally, when children have received warnings, staff have failed to identify the reason the warning was given or the date on which it was issued. This does not provide children with a clear account of their placement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager supports staff to reflect on any serious incidents and uses learning to inform practice. However, the manager does not record or evaluate this learning. She has failed to make necessary policy changes when learning has indicated that this is required. For example, the service was unable to meet the needs of one child due to shortfalls in information obtained during their referral process. The manager spent time reflecting on this with other professionals and agencies. She has adapted her practice when reviewing referrals but has failed to reflect this in the policy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Professionals spoke positively about the managers and staff. Communication about children’s needs is reported to be a strength, both when children’s needs increase and when children are ready to live with less support. One professional said, ‘They are always very positive, reflective and genuinely care about the children.’ Staff say they feel supported by their managers, who they describe as always being available to help and provide advice. This helps to support consistent practice for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has introduced a new model of supervision which is focused on staff development, responsibility and accountability. Staff are enrolled on a level 4 qualification which will strengthen their knowledge base around their role. They also benefit from a wide range of mandatory training that helps them to understand children’s needs. Recently, staff have completed trauma training to help them to better support the children. One member of staff described this training as ‘pivotal in understanding why children respond the way that they do’. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the standard of accommodation is accurately reflected in the statement of purpose. 23 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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 as supported accommodation—

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Requirement Due date

are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child individually and all children collectively;

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Requirement Due date

are suitable for the purposes of supported accommodation and are accessible, safe, secure and well-maintained; 23 January 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 6 are adequately maintained so as to provide a welcoming and homely environment within both individual and shared living spaces;

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Requirement Due date

are designed, furnished and maintained to remove avoidable hazards which could pose a health and safety risk to children. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(v)(vi)(viii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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 plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child;

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Requirement Due date

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Requirement Due date

ensure a plan for support is in place to support the child to develop the resilience and skills required to transition out of supported accommodation when the child is ready to live more independently. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(b)(c)(k)) 23 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile, in relation to the supported accommodation undertaking, a plan ("the workforce plan") which covers the following matters in respect of the recruitment and employment of all staff—

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Requirement Due date

keep the workforce plan under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 10 (1)(a) (2)(a)) 23 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review ("a quality of support review") at least once every six months, which must take into account— 23 April 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 7 feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met. (Regulation 32 (1)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a behaviour management policy setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the expectations of children in relation to their behaviour, what will happen if those expectations are not met, and how the registered person will ensure that children know what those behaviour expectations are. (Regulation 22 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must prepare a policy that reflects the organisational practice around the use of consequences. 23 January 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on young people’s individual needs when identifying a particular risk. In particular, staff should ensure that children’s risk assessment documents are up to date and address any known vulnerabilities, including contextual safeguarding concerns, and that they detail what action staff should take to address the risk. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 21)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Abraham Chartered Certified Accountants, 46 Houghton Place, Bradford BD1 3RG

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Shabana Kauser

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Inspectors

Beth Forster, Social Care Inspector Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Future Hub Limited 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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