Children's Home run by Partners in Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 1 SC441717 Registered provider: Partners in Care 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2018.

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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: 22 November 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2023 Full Good 23/08/2022 Full Good 30/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved on from this home. Staff supported one child with a planned move into supported accommodation. Unfortunately, one child moved out as their needs could not be met.

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improvement to be good

The manager completes an impact risk assessment to aid her decision making around new admissions. However, there was an absence of detail in this assessment. It does not take into consideration the mix of children who live in the home, how children’s behaviours impact on other children, and how this can be safely managed by staff. This lack of analysis means that staff are vulnerable to overlooking key areas that the children require support with.

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improvement to be good

Children are cared for by a consistent staff team who know them well. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs and try to engage children in activities that they are interested in and enjoy.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a homely environment and their bedrooms are personalised to their individual needs. The children have ample space to spend time together, with staff or to chill out in their own space. That said, some areas of the home have suffered some wear and tear and requires re-decoration. Action plans are in place to address this.

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improvement to be good

Children are registered with relevant health professionals and are supported to attend routine health appointments. Children are in good physical health, and support for their individual needs is now being progressed. There is a plan in place for the organisation’s psychologist to offer emotional support to one of the children living in the home. This plan is in its infancy.

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improvement to be good

Staff spoken to understand the barriers that children face with education and are supporting children to overcome these. The registered manager is working with educational professionals to ensure that children are in the right placement to meet their needs.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager has good working relationships with other professionals involved in the care of children currently living in the home. However, some relevant plans and information are missing from children’s records. This hinders the team’s ability to support children to make progress in line with the placing authorities’ objectives and expectations.

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improvement to be good

Children are consulted and encouraged to express their views. Children know how to make a complaint, and feel confident that the manager would respond appropriately to any concerns that they may raise. However, recording does not fully reflect how the Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 4 manager has considered and responded to issues raised by children. This does not help children to understand the decisions made around their day-to-day care.

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improvement to be good

Staff know the children well and are alert to their individual needs. Staff struggled to support one child effectively at times. However, there has been a reduction in the number of incidents since one child moved out.

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improvement to be good

On occasions, staff have appropriately requested assistance from the police when a child’s behaviour has become increasingly unsafe. When children’s risk-taking behaviours have increased, staff have shared information with all relevant professionals to ensure that children are kept safe.

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improvement to be good

When children are missing from home, staff actively search for them and encourage them to return home. Information is shared with relevant agencies, and children have access to independent return home interviews.

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improvement to be good

Children have risk management plans in place; however, some of the plans have been duplicated and are not specific to children’s individual needs. While this has not impacted on children currently living in the home, it does not ensure that staff have the information they need to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in the management of allegations. When an allegation has been made about staff practice, relevant new information has not been shared with the designated officer. In addition, when advised to complete an internal investigation by the designated officer, this did not include an assessment of the new information or which safeguarding measures were in place to protect children. This practice does not ensure children’s safety and welfare.

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improvement to be good

When a child has had an overnight stay away from the home, it has not been clear what checks the manager and staff have carried out to ensure that this is a safe place for the child to be. Furthermore, when the child has then shared a concern, records do not show the action taken in response to these concerns or the support given to the child.

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improvement to be good

Safe recruitment procedures are in place for new staff. This means that children are protected from unsuitable adults being employed to work in the home.

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

The home is managed by an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager. She knows the children well and spends time with them to build meaningful relationships. However, there are shortfalls in the registered manager’s overall monitoring and oversight. Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 5 Staff spoken to describe a supportive environment and said that they feel supported in their role. Staff receive regular supervision sessions. However, these sessions do not always help to reflect on their practice or consider the impact of anything they have learned from their experiences.

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

There are gaps in staff training. Not all staff have received training to support their understanding of children’s individual needs. The system in place does not ensure the continuing professional development of staff, or that they have the relevant skills to meet the children’s identified needs.

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

Record-keeping in the home requires improvement. The monitoring and review systems in place are inconsistent. The organisation uses an online recording system. However, some records are not available on this system, and it is therefore unclear how staff access all the information necessary to their role.

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

Monthly reports from the independent person have not always included matters required by regulation. However, a new independent person has recently been appointed to ensure that these visits are effective in developing the home and securing improvement. Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 6

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that allegations made by children are appropriately managed. This includes relevant follow up work and support for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the risk management plans in place are specific to individual children. 19 March 2025

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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— 19 March 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 7 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; and

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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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there are effective monitoring systems in place to ensure that oversight of all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home are carried out.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must improve the quality of staff supervision and training records maintained in the home.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that they have copies of children’s relevant plans, to ensure they receive effectively planned care.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that records of complaints made by children clearly show the action taken in response to these complaints. 19 March 2025

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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 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). (Regulation 40 (d)(i)(ii)) 19 March 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 8

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Recommendation

 The registered manager should ensure that improvements are made to the general decoration of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC441717 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC441717 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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