Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 1 SC033174 Registered provider: Hampshire County 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 operated by a local authority. The home was registered to care for one child up until April 2024. Due to a change in its registration, the home is now able to care for up to four children. At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 30 January 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 requires improvement to be 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: 13 February 2024

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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: SC033174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2024 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Inadequate 02/08/2022 Full Good 26/04/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children collectively say the home is ‘OK’ to live in. The staff have created an environment that is comfortable and homely. The home is clean and well furnished for the children to enjoy. There is an array of toys, games and crafts on offer for children to play with. Children enjoy the outdoor space to play football and basketball and go on their bikes and scooters. This provides children with a sense of safety, security and comfort.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with the staff who care for them. Children and staff enjoy fun activities and interactions with each other. Consequently, children have built positive attachments and trusting relationships with staff, enabling them to feel settled and at ease.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in education engagement, home learning and managing their emotions. Children engage in daily routines and attend important healthcare appointments. Children are growing in confidence and esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can see their families and those who are significant to them. For example, some children have been supported to keep in touch with their former foster carers. Reunification plans are under way for some children, and staff have built positive relationships with parents. This reassures children that staff support their care plan and are invested in preparing them for their next step.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children in the home are supported to develop positive relationships with each other, and they generally get along well. Children are supported to play together and they enjoy playing board games with each other and staff. This provides opportunities to have fun, practise turn-taking and follow game rules.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has steadily increased the number of children they can care for, from one to four children. Prior to the home being at full capacity, there were times when children were placed in an emergency. Consideration has not always been given to the home’s statement of purpose and the range of children’s needs the staff are equipped to care for. This has the potential to undermine the staff’s ability to provide good-quality care and stability within the home.

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

The home previously had a focus on caring for younger-aged children. Staff have completed relevant courses and been given opportunities to further develop their practice in caring for pre-teen children.

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

The children do not go missing from home. However, staff are familiar with what to do and children’s individual protocols should this happen. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 4 Complaints that are raised by children are managed well. They are promptly investigated, and outcomes are shared with children. This ensures children see that their complaint is taken seriously and that their voices are heard.

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

Risks are well known and understood by staff. Clear, up-to-date risk assessments are held and there are good plans in place to keep children safe. Staff manage children’s internet safety appropriately and talk to them about online risks. This helps to safeguard children.

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

Staff use consistent and effective behaviour management strategies. This has resulted in a decrease in incidents and use of physical interventions. Incidents are recorded well and shared with appropriate professionals. However, there is inconsistent management oversight of these incidents to ensure that all staff fully understand children’s cues and behaviours, and that staff communicate well with each other during incidents.

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

Staff have generally supported children well and in line with their behaviour support plans. However, on one occasion children were not appropriately supervised for a short period of time. This resulted in a child becoming distressed, and an allegation of harm to them by other children. Staff failed to notify senior leaders of the incident until the following day.

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

The child-centred registered manager has a good understanding of the needs of the children and is a strong advocate for them. However, management oversight is not consistently sufficiently strong.

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

The manager’s oversight of restraint records lacks depth and professional curiosity. Some records of physical restraint had no management oversight within the required time frame. Furthermore, records of debriefs with children after incidents are not of a consistently adequate standard. Consequently, it is not always clear or easy to understand how staff have supported children following incidents to explore their feelings and the level of restorative work that occurred.

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

The manager ensures that the children are likely to benefit from the care the home offers before the children move in. However, risks between children are not explicitly explored to ensure compatibility. This has the potential to mean that risks relating to the children as a group, or the influence and vulnerability between children, are not well understood. In turn, this has the potential to undermine children’s safety and stability in the home.

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

Some staff highlight struggles in communication, but staff are generally positive about working at the home. Staff benefit from regular supervision. However, the manager has not completed staff appraisals. This has undermined the manager’s ability to celebrate staff’s strengths and identify areas of professional development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 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 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)) 14 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made—

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 14 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 6 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that the information set out in the statement of purpose is clear. The statement of purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and the placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. Emergency admissions should not be taken unless the home’s statement of purpose and its capacity and support systems mean

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Recommendations

that it has the capability to care for children admitted at very short notice while continuing to offer high-quality care to children already living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)  The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. As part of the performance management process, poor performance should be addressed by a timely plan to bring about improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: SC033174 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UG

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Inspector

Karen Flanagan de Martinez, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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