Children's Home run by Next Step Independence Ltd in Swindon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2638617 1 Registered provider: Next Step Independence Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in December 2021 and provides care for up to two children.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection two children were living at the home. Another child lived at the home between January 2022 and June 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a suitably qualified registered manager.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers 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: 21 November 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2638617 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2023 Full Good 23/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2638617 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children who live at the home were seen and spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff at this home build positive relationships with children. These relationships have helped children settle and make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves to the home are well planned and child focused. Before children move to the home, in-depth consultation takes place with a range of professionals about their needs. Children receive information about the home and are able to visit and meet staff before moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child’s move from the home was not well planned. There was a significant delay in the child’s next home being identified, which caused prolonged uncertainty for them. Managers advocated for the child. However, they did not take swift enough action to escalate their concerns about delays to external professionals. Some reflection and learning have been taken from this. For example, planning for another child’s move from the home has recently begun at an earlier point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported to keep in touch with family and friends. They regularly have friends and family visit them at the home, and staff and managers build positive relationships with parents and family members. One child was recently supported to go on holiday abroad with staff, which was a positive experience for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work effectively with education professionals to overcome barriers to children attending school and college. For example, prior to moving to this home, one child had not attended school for over a year. Managers and staff communicate well with education professionals to ensure appropriate support is in place for the child. As a result, this child is now attending school regularly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, tidy and well presented with pictures of the children and staff throughout. Children’s bedrooms are personalised in line with their individual interests and tastes. Some restrictive measures, such as window restrictors and door alarms, are in place without adequate justification for their use or a clear timescale for their review specified. Staff advised that the door alarm for one child was removed during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they feel safe living here, that they have positive relationships with staff and that they feel they can speak to staff about any concerns they have. Inspection report for children’s home: 2638617 4 Children rarely go missing from home, with only two incidents taking place over the past 12 months. When children do go missing, staff take appropriate action. They search for them and report them missing to the police. There have been no incidents of restraint and there is a low level of significant incidents in the home overall.

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improvement to be good

Staff speak to children regularly about keeping safe online and in the community. However, one child spends a large amount of time away from the home each day. This has limited the opportunities available for staff to provide this child with care, support and age-appropriate supervision.

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improvement to be good

Staff have appropriate training in safeguarding. However, not all staff clearly understand children’s specific needs and risks. Leaders, managers and staff have not demonstrated sufficient curiosity about the risks that children may face outside of the home. As a result, potential safeguarding concerns are not always explored promptly or in full.

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improvement to be good

The home’s manager advocates for children. She has regularly challenged external professionals when there are concerns about practice and delay in some plans being progressed for children. However, when serious safeguarding incidents take place, leaders and managers do not take enough action to challenge external professionals when their response is not robust enough.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a dedicated and child-focused manager who knows the children well and understands their individual needs and risks. She is a strong advocate for children and regularly seeks and shares their views about the care they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear understanding of the staff’s areas of strength and for development. However, plans to develop staff and the home have not yet been actioned due to the impact of vacancies in the staff team. Leaders and managers have now taken action to address recruitment challenges and ensure suitable staff are employed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at this home and feel very well supported by managers and colleagues. Regular supervision sessions take place, which are of good quality and allow staff to reflect on their own practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training that is specific to the needs of the children living at the home. Issues relating to staff practice are identified and addressed appropriately, with additional support and training put in place if required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals and a parent spoken to were positive about the communication from the manager and the quality of care that the staff provide for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2638617 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, 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

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

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)(v)(b)) 1 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

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. Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)) 1 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2638617 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the reasoning for any restrictive practices or monitoring of children is proportionate to the risk and clearly documented in their care and support plans along with consent from relevant parties and clear timescales for review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16).

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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: 2638617 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Next Step Independence

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wellington House, Queen Street, Taunton TA1 3UF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Bridget Drew-Spyer

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Inspectors

Janet Jauregui, Social Care Inspector Nicola Lownds, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2638617 8 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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