Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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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 private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to four children. The home provides care for children who may be experiencing social and emotional difficulties and/or sexually harmful behaviour and/or children with learning disabilities. Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in October 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

This company also runs a school, which is registered with the Department for Education, in the same grounds as the children’s home. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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good

Date of last inspection: 24 October 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 for 2548403 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/10/2023 Full Good 15/11/2022 Full Good 25/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 3

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improvement to be good

Children say they are safe and happy in the home. However, their experiences are impacted by the restrictive monitoring and surveillance. Children are provided with a doorbell to use if they wish to leave their room at night. The doorbell alerts staff and children wait in their bedrooms for staff to attend. Children can leave their bedrooms but feel that they should not.

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improvement to be good

Children’s bedroom windows are fitted with window restrictors for safety. Most children’s bedrooms also have an audible window sensor that is activated at night. The additional use of window sensors is not risk assessed or required in line with children’s needs. Therefore, they are unduly restrictive.

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improvement to be good

The home is comfortable and homely. There are photos of the children and their special memories throughout the communal areas. Staff help children to personalise their bedrooms, which feature stencils and paint chosen by the children. One child proudly displays their snowboarding and climbing certificates on their wall.

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress in education. Two children are educated in the attached school. One child has started an electrical engineering course and is able to travel independently to and from college. Another child has been supported to access mainstream education following a prolonged period out of education. The manager has been persistent in her challenge of the placing authority to ensure that the child receives their education. The manager works closely with schools and colleges to ensure that children have access to trips and residential holidays.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with their family and the people who are important to them. Staff maintain regular communication with family members and keep them updated about their child. This helps children to maintain their identity and continue to see the people who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to develop their independence skills while living in the home and therefore are better prepared for any potential move on to semi-independent living. The children are encouraged to budget, shop and cook meals, and staff also ensure that their bedrooms are kept clean and tidy.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not properly considered the potential risks posed by the relationships between co-workers. Two married members of staff took one child away together on a week’s holiday. A risk assessment of this relationship was not made, and no consideration was given to the possible safeguarding issues due to it. This Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 4 placed the child and members of staff at risk. The child’s allocated social worker was not informed of this arrangement, leading to limited oversight of the potential risk.

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improvement to be good

Children are rarely held by staff. However, holds have not been appropriate or for the minimum amount of time. One child has been taken to their bedroom within restraints, and on one occasion, was continued to be held in their personal space. This damages children’s relationships of trust with staff and impacts on their sense of security in their home.

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improvement to be good

Recordings of incidents and restraints lack detail. Staff and children are not spoken to within the required timescales. Therefore, opportunities to provide support and improve practice are missed.

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improvement to be good

Children who have complex health needs are supported to attend the appropriate appointments with external specialists. Staff complete medication training. On one occasion, a medication error has occurred in the home. The manager responded promptly and revised medication processes to ensure that the risk of further errors was reduced. One child is being supported to self-administer medication in line with their age and needs.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are vetted before starting work. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home. The home has created a clear and comprehensive induction process. This ensures that staff are able to work at an appropriate pace when getting to know the children and are given time to understand policies and processes.

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good

Managers do not provide staff with the opportunity to reflect after they have carried out a restraint, and staff are not aided in rebuilding their relationship with the child. One child wanted to speak to their social worker following two separate incidents. Staff supported the child to leave messages for their social worker but did not follow this up to ensure that this was addressed by them. The child’s rights to an independent person have not been ensured.

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good

The paperwork completed when children have been held lacks sufficient detail in line with regulations. The oversight of these events is provided by senior leaders who were not involved in the incident; however, it does not recognise the shortfalls in practice or recording. Therefore, managers and leaders’ oversight has not prevented inappropriate practice or promoted improvements in the service for children.

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good

However, the members of the leadership team are passionate and ambitious and have plans in place to develop staff and streamline processes in the home. The manager and staff are committed to ensuring that children’s needs are met. Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 5 Team meetings consistently take place. These are an opportunity for staff to discuss the child’s needs, share good practice and address any challenges. Team meetings have clear agendas, and action is always taken to ensure that key issues are addressed promptly.

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good

The quality of care review report does not evaluate or analyse children’s achievements and the progress they are making. The report does not include or evaluate the opinions of children, their parents and the placing authorities. This is a missed opportunity to help the leaders and managers to evaluate the quality of care effectively. Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children are not unduly restricted in their home, that all systems of monitoring are risk assessed and proportionate to children’s needs, and that the placing authority has given informed consent to these measures. 25 April 2025

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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

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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the registered person ensuring that there is a sufficient risk assessment in place in relation to family relationships between staff to ensure that safeguarding procedures are clear and followed effectively. The registered person must also ensure that children’s placing authorities are aware of any identified potential risk. 25 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 7 Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that restraint is used as a last resort, with minimum force and for the least amount of time. 25 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

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 which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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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;

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Requirement Due date

and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate;

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Requirement Due date

and 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. 25 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 8 (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review is evaluative and contains feedback from children and wider stakeholders. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery in the home and how those actions will be addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.4)

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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’.

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Information about this inspection

The inspection started on 17 December 2024. Inspectors returned on 13 March 2025 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy. Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St Mary’s Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspectors

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Sarah Huntbatch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home for 2548403 10 and inspects 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 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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Inspectors

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