Children's Home run by Collaborative Care Services Limited in Swindon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 1 Registered provider: Collaborative Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 19 December 2024.

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

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child was present for this inspection. The child did not want to speak to the inspector and did not spend any time in the communal areas of the home during the inspection. Staff have not supported the child to make any progress from their starting point. Staff have not built trusted or secure relationships with the child to be able to support their welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There is no clear plan or targets for the child’s education. The staff are not working alongside the child’s education mentor to ensure that they understand what education the child would benefit from. There has been no timely or effective liaison to secure robust education for the child that will allow them to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff have provided the child with access to local health services. However, there is no individualised health plan in place for the child. There is a lack of understanding around how to support the child’s independent health needs and promote their overall physical health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

While staff offer the child different activities, they have not been able to create or sustain a routine that promotes the child’s overall well-being. There is no routine for the child’s day-to-day life, sleep or diet. Staff have not adapted approaches to try to achieve a better routine for the child. Information about the child’s day is recorded in a child- focused way. However, the records are inconsistent and contain conflicting information, which is not in line with the care planning in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child’s move into the home was rushed and poorly planned. Critical documents to understand the child’s needs were missed. The home failed to challenge the placing local authority effectively to gain a greater understanding of the child’s needs and level of risk before they moved into the home. There was no plan for the child’s education, risk management, spending time with significant others, boundaries or routine.

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

There is a lack of effective partnership working between the home and the placing local authority. The disconnect between risk planning documents shared by the placing local authority and the actions being taken by staff has failed to safeguard the child from the risk of harm.

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

The home does not have ongoing or accurate risk assessments in place to support risk reduction planning for the child, despite known risks. The staff do not fully understand what risks there are for the child, what the child does inside and outside the home and what actions they need to take to help safeguard the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 3 Missing-from-home episodes are poorly managed. The home has failed to intervene to reduce the number of incidents when the child is missing from home. There is a lack of professional curiosity to understand any patterns around episodes to reduce them. The response from the home when the child is missing and seeks to return home is not in line with the expectations of the local authority safety plan.

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

Staff do not have any understanding of what the child is doing online or when using a mobile phone. There has been no attempt to be curious about this to put in adequate safeguards or understand how to support the child to remain safe while accessing online content. There are no strategies in place for staff to understand these risks to help the child remain safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has been in post for a short period and has not yet registered with Ofsted. She has shown a commitment to influencing positive change for the child and staff. However, due to the widespread failures, she has yet to have made any impact.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not have effective oversight of the day-to-day running of the home. Inexperienced staff have been running the home without adequate support. The leaders have failed to ensure that the team of staff have the knowledge and skills to support the child and protect them from the risk of harm. There is no effective monitoring or review of the practice in the home. There is no timely or consistent updating of plans in line with the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not understand the level of risk in the home for the child. Police involvement and missing-from-home incidents have continued to occur. The leaders have not supported staff to understand how to disrupt these incidents and encourage the child to engage in other activities. There is no support for staff to understand what the plan is for the child for them to achieve progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervision sessions take place. There is a lack of focus on safeguarding and a lack of clear, reflective practice to enhance the quality of care that is provided to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 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 quality of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for the children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets the children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised plans that meet each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the child’s day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iv)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

This directly relates to the registered person ensuring that carers have clear direction and strategies to ensure that the child has positive daily routines.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that robust plans are in place for carers to fully understand the child’s gaming and social media use so that they remain safe online. 10 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 5 The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational 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 each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing local authority to support the child’s education and training to maximise the child’s achievement;

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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 throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that a timetable of educational activities is implemented during the school day while the child is out of education.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should challenge services effectively to ensure that the child returns to school as soon as possible. 10 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The health is wellbeing standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-needs of the children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice; services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and 10 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 6 children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This directly relates to the registered person ensuring that the child is helped to receive support for their individual health needs.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should implement a plan to ensure that mealtimes are structured, and the child has more variety and healthier choices in their diet.

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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;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must take urgent action to assess and understand the risks for the child inside and outside of the 13 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 7 home. Risk planning and risk assessments must be urgently completed.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must: carry out an urgent review of the safety plan for when the child is missing from home. Consistent and suitable plans for returning the child to the home must be agreed with the local authority; make urgent arrangements to review and update fire safety risk assessments and procedures; review risk assessments for the child and ensure that staff understand these and how to respond to risks.

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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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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. 13 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 8 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must take immediate action to ensure day-to-day control of the home and support the staff to understand and meet the needs of the child in their care.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must take immediate action to ensure that they understand the needs, risks and interests of the child. An immediate review of the knowledge, training and skills of the staff team must be carried out to understand any gaps, and steps must be taken to resolve these. The registered person must ensure that they accurately understand the risks and support needs of the child. Open and honest discussions with wider agencies must take place to understand whether the home can meet the needs of the child and mitigate risk. The registered person must take urgent action to put in place regular and effective monitoring of the home.

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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 or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard at paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the admission of any child to the home is done with careful planning and an understanding of how the home and staff can meet the child’s needs effectively. 10 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 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: 2786775 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Collaborative Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 25 Pure Offices, Kembrey Park, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 8BW

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Inspector

Hannah Spencer-Townesend, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2786775 11 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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