First Right

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 1 First Right Registered provider: First Right Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

A private provider operates this supported accommodation service. The provider can accommodate up to four individuals in one shared or group-living home that is limited to accommodating looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, the service was providing supported accommodation for two children aged 16 and 17.

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provider

The service manager registered with Ofsted in December 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 3 March 2025 and started that day. The inspector was on site on 5 and 6 March 2025.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately three years.

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Summary of findings

Overall, children make good progress. The registered manager and staff build trusting relationships with children. These relationships make children feel safe and respected and give them the confidence to talk to staff if they have concerns.

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from individualised support aligned to their needs, risks, and behaviours. Children are helped to develop strong foundations for adult life.

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Summary of findings

Staff listen and respond to children’s feelings and views. Important conversations about children’s experiences and progress are purposeful. Managers and staff strongly advocate on children’s behalf. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 2 Staff know children’s needs well and take effective action to help them stay safe. This is combined with a well-coordinated multi-agency approach.

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Summary of findings

Some aspects of management oversight require improvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have positive experiences on arrival and when they move out of this supported accommodation. This is because of the remarkable quality of individualised support they receive from responsible and loyal staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The registered service manager considers children’s needs at the point of referral. He consults with placing authorities and carefully assesses the needs of children moving in and of those already living in the accommodation. This considered approach provides a foundation for a stable and effective placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff build positive and meaningful relationships to support children. One child said, ‘If I need anything, staff are available to support me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children to work towards and achieve their aims and goals. They provide age-appropriate opportunities for children to develop a range of independence skills in preparation for adult living. This includes money management, food hygiene and preparation, looking after their own emotional and physical health and community and group networking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff take a proactive approach to children’s education, training, and employment. They identify and use children’s aspirations and enthusiasm to remove any potential barriers. This helps to re-engage children on pathways to training and employment. This approach has been successful in helping children to make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are well supported to develop tenacity. Staff take the time to understand children’s past experiences and provide a child-centred approach that helps them to manage the difficulties they face in life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s records are not always up to date and do not consistently capture their goals. For example, staff did not ensure that one child’s support and independence plans included all the relevant information about their experiences and targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Overall, children benefit from living in a comfortable environment that is decorated to a good standard. Staff and children take pride in the accommodation, which is individualised. However, staff practice does not always ensure that the environment is homely. For example, there is a blanket approach to the use of window restrictors and CCTV. In addition, staff lock knives and cleaning products away from children and use locks on children’s individual kitchen cupboards. This is not proportionate to any potential or identified risks to children. Also, children are not given a front door key to access their home. This does not create a nurturing and supportive environment to prepare children to live independently. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 3 The registered service manager has a good understanding of what the service does well and what areas require improvement. He also recognises the need to improve

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Overall experiences and progress of children

his oversight of staff practice, quality of support and monitoring of children’s experiences.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children said that they feel safe, and that staff support them to make good decisions. Staff support children in taking age-appropriate risks as part of growing up that help children to understand and manage their vulnerabilities. This approach is effective in helping children make good choices that keep them safe.

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How well children are helped and protected

The registered manager ensures that staff receive essential training to keep children safe. Staff receive a wide range of safeguarding training to support children effectively. Training includes how staff should support children when managing challenging behaviours and how to de-escalate potentially volatile situations.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children’s individual risk assessments are reviewed and updated following incidents. This means that they contain the most up-to-date information for staff to use to inform their practice.

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How well children are helped and protected

There is a multidisciplinary approach to keeping children safe. Strong links with safeguarding agencies are used to develop coordinated responses to children’s risk- taking behaviour. Staff examine incidents of concern and use learning to develop their practice.

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How well children are helped and protected

The registered service manager has prepared missing-from-home protocols in case children go missing. However, when children went missing from home, staff did not implement these within the agreed time frames. This caused an unnecessary delay in locating the children. Managers have reflected on this incident to inform and improve staff practice.

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How well children are helped and protected

Overall, recruitment practice is thorough and ensures that staff are suitable and safe to work with children. However, on one occasion, managers did not obtain all the relevant information in line with their procedure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The service is managed by a knowledgeable and experienced registered service manager. He is visible and has a positive impact on the lives of children. He promotes a strong ethos of child-centred support which is respected by staff. One member of staff said, ‘He [service manager] really takes care of staff as much as he takes care of the young people. What we see him doing is he leads by example.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff work collaboratively with a range of agencies to ensure that the support and help for children are well planned. Feedback from agencies was positive, with one social worker saying, ‘I have been impressed by the pragmatic and child-centred approach demonstrated by staff. They can be flexible, but there are also times when Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 4 a decision is non-negotiable, and I believe that [name of child] benefits from this clarity.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff are passionate about their work, and they have regular reflective meetings to examine their practice. This helps them to find different ways of working to meet the needs of children. Staff say that they feel supported by managers and are given opportunities to develop professionally. Furthermore, staff are committed to developing their knowledge and skills. They work in collaboration with specialist agencies, such as mental health professionals, to better support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager is a strong advocate for children. He challenges other agencies to ensure that children receive the support they need and deserve. For example, he ensured that one child was able to spend time with their extended family when other agencies were unavailable to facilitate this arrangement. This resulted in the child maintaining meaningful family relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered manager notifies Ofsted of all serious incidents. This means that the regulator can review the action that managers and staff take to protect children from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers implement monitoring systems to scrutinise the service. They identify areas for development to ensure that the service operates in accordance with the statement of purpose. However, monitoring systems are not embedded effectively to identify gaps in staff supervision and training. The registered service manager is aware of the shortfalls and is keen to address and resolve them to improve the service. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) 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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(c)) 25 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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

ensure that the premises used as supported accommodation—

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Requirement Due date

offer a comfortable, positive, and nurturing environment, while respecting children’s need for privacy;

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Requirement Due date

are adequately maintained so as to provide a welcoming and homely environment within both individual and shared living spaces;

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Requirement Due date

only use devices for monitoring or surveillance in communal areas and then only if— 25 April 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 6 the monitoring or surveillance is for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children,

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to each child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(vii)(viii)(c)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working for the supported accommodation undertaking, in relation to a child who is, or has previously been, missing. (Regulation 21 (1)(b)) 25 April 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff do not unnecessarily impose limits on children’s privacy and access unless it is needed in exceptional circumstances to temporarily safeguard children. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 29)  The registered person should ensure that children’s plans are regularly updated so that staff can adapt their support to meet children’s changing needs. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 35)  The registered person should ensure that all employment checks are completed prior to any member of staff starting work. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 16)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: First Right Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Reece Vernon

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: reecevernon@firstright.co.uk

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: First Right 8 to 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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