Children's home run by North East Lincolnshire Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 1 SC069618 Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a local authority. The home provides care for up to two children with a learning disability or emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of inspection, the home was providing care for two children. Both children were spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is appropriately qualified and registered with Ofsted in December 2024.

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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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/06/2022 Full Inadequate 20/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel safe. Two children who have recently moved into the home have settled well. Children said that staff listen to them and they can talk to the staff, who would help them if needed. One child said, ‘It’s all right here,’ and ‘Staff are nice.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in their learning. Staff support children to engage with their learning and education. One child who had previously refused to attend school has now returned. One professional described this as a ‘phenomenal’ change for the child and attributed it to the stability of the care provided in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to stay healthy. Children are registered with local health services to meet their physical health needs. Children have access to a psychologist who regularly attends the home. This ensures children can access support for their emotional well-being and provides staff with guidance to ensure a trauma-informed approach to meeting children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have moved into the home or from this home have been supported by staff in line with their plans. When children come to live at the home, they are welcomed by staff and provided with information to help them feel comfortable. Children have been provided with the opportunity to visit the home and meet the staff before moving in. Children who move out of the home are consulted; plans are developed and followed to best meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a range of activities. These activities provide new opportunities for children to try new experiences or develop hobbies. The location of the home supports children by offering access to several locally sourced activities and days out. Children benefit from new experiences and develop new interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are consulted about some aspects of their care. However, staff do not regularly complete key-working discussions with children. This is a missed opportunity to support children’s development and ability to explore their views in a safe environment. This would provide an opportunity for staff to understand the child’s perspective and inform their plans.

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

Written records about children are completed using positive language. Daily records record what has happened each day for each child. They are written to the child and include comments on the child’s reactions and emotions. This is a record that can be reflected on by the child about their time living in the home. The written records would be a pleasant read for the future child to come back and review. Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 4 Staff are skilled in de-escalation. Staff know the children and follow their plans using the child’s strategies to de-escalate situations. This means that incidents are rare. When incidents happen, staff follow the child’s plan and act effectively to reduce the risk of harm. When a child is missing from home, staff actively look for the child and follow their plan to ensure their safe return home. Staff ensure children can access a return home interview following any missing period.

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

Impact risk assessments are completed for children moving into the home. The information known about the child is considered alongside the care that can be provided. The assessments consider the impact on other children already living in the home. These are effective and considered assessments to ensure the care provided can meet the needs of the children.

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

Risk assessments identify the known risks for the children. Risk assessments are reviewed regularly. Staff are guided by strategies identified in the assessments to know what actions they should take to ensure that children remain safe and reduce the risk of actual harm. However, not all risk assessments have management oversight to agree the level of potential harm for each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a permanent manager who recently became the registered manager. There is a consistent staff team in place. Staff have confidence in their registered manager, who is visible and approachable. There is no deputy manager currently in post. This vacancy is not being actively recruited to at this time, which is increasing the responsibility placed on the registered manager and senior staff member.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment checks are completed to ensure that staff working at the home are safe to be with children. Current staff vacancies mean care is supported by a relief staff team, and where necessary agency staff. Relief and agency staff are also subject to safer recruitment checks. The registered manager has requested the same agency staff to bring consistency and familiarity to the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to training opportunities. Staff are expected to gain a recognised qualification to inform their ability to provide high-quality care. The registered manager supports this with incentives and oversight. However, some staff have not completed their qualification to ensure that the care being provided is from qualified and skilled staff. The registered manager has a plan in place to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has implemented a monthly monitoring tool. The monitoring tool tracks children’s progress, staff performance and the quality of care. Despite this, some information in the monthly monitoring is inaccurate and some documents in need of updating have not been identified. The monthly monitoring tool needs to identify these aspects of care and address them to prevent any adverse impact on the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 5 Staff receive regular supervision and appraisals. Supervision is child focused, considers staff well-being and quality assurance. However, supervision lacks reflective discussion. This is a missed opportunity to develop discussions and identify learning to enhance the care being provided to children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor regularly attends the home. Reports are completed to confirm that the children are being safeguarded effectively and their well-being promoted. If needed, recommendations are made which the registered manager can consider in developing the offer of care being provided. However, the reports have not been sent to Ofsted since August 2024. The reports ensure that the regulator can review care outside of inspection and consider any additional actions that may be needed. This has not been possible. Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 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 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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 20 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 53, paragraph 10.12)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 7 the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC069618 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Offices, Knoll Street, Cleethorpes DN35 8LN

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Inspector

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC069618 9 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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Inspector

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