Children's Home run by Excellence Consulting Services Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 1 Registered provider: Excellence Consulting Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in January 2025 and is privately owned. It offers care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home. The child contributed to the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2025.

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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/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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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: 2818768 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child has lived at the home for less than two months since it registered in January 2025. During that short time, there have been several significant safeguarding incidents, highlighting serious shortfalls in staff practice. The child has experienced harm and uncertainty because of the staff’s inability to protect them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child has a deprivation of liberty order (DoL order). The manager has collaborated with the social worker to reduce the child’s constraints on freedom to increase independence and reflect their wishes. During this reduction programme, the child has been very unsettled, and incidents have escalated. Several serious incidents have led to the child being unsafe and at risk.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The manager has not reviewed and updated the child’s care plans to incorporate learning from these incidents. The staff do not provide safe or consistent support, which has left the child at increased risk.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The manager agreed to provide a specific level of staff supervision for the child. Despite this, a member of the child’s family was able to take the child from the home on the day the child moved in. The child travelled in a stolen car with the family members and was missing from the home for five days.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child has access to an online education provision. This provision is not suited to the child. The child has not participated and is not learning or purposefully engaged. The manager is working with the social worker to explore alternative education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The staff have met the child’s health needs. When the child has required medical attention, staff have arranged for them to be assessed and have advocated for specialist support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home is clean and decorated tastefully. The child has been given the opportunity to personalise their room with paint colours, but they chose not to. Soft furnishings have been chosen by the child. Photos displayed on the wall capture enjoyable activities and experiences that the child has shared with staff. This has given the child some sense of belonging at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The manager and staff have established trust with the child. They consider the child’s communication needs. The child now remains in contact with staff by telephone if they are away from the home.

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

The staff have been unable to care for the child with the staff supervision levels required before the child moved to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 3 Staff have failed to ensure that the garden is secure, despite a key lock being on the gate for security. This resulted in an adult gaining access to the garden and taking the child with them. The child went missing for five days and was exposed to significant risks and experienced harm.

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

Leaders and managers have failed to share significant safeguarding information promptly with other agencies. Following a missing-from-home incident, the child disclosed a sexual assault, but no one shared the information with other agencies for five days. This significantly reduced the necessary measures to safeguard the child and the wider community.

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

Managers and staff failed to follow the staffing ratio plan, which was implemented in accordance with the care plan and DoL order. On one occasion, this resulted in the child going missing from the home. On another occasion, the child returned home under the influence of substances and alcohol, prompting the staff to contact medical professionals who advised staff to monitor the child. Although two staff members were available, one staff member remained with the child which does not reflect the supervision levels agreed with the local authority.

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

Staff have failed to keep the child safe during a missing-from-home incident. The child contacted staff to ask for help in returning to the home, and they asked the child to locate the nearest police station. This was because staff could not drive. The child then remained missing for a further two nights and was involved in criminal activity. When the child returned to the home, the staff were concerned that the child had a weapon and locked the child out of the house. The child left the home again and was returned by the police.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The management arrangements are not effective. There is no deputy manager in post. The staff team has some experience with two members of staff who are new to residential childcare. The responsible individual lives and works overseas. The registered manager has worked for up to 36 hours at the home with one break. At this time, the manager had a wrist injury that required hospital attention. This meant that the manager had no one to support her or deputise. As the child was extremely unsettled, the manager wanted to remain at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff and managers are not consistent or accurate in recording incidents and sharing information. Some incident reports are duplicated and incomplete. The child’s risk management plans are not accurate or up to date. These fail to guide staff in how to best reduce and manage risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not have monitoring systems in place to give consistent management oversight. Therefore, there are no opportunities for staff to learn from practice or identify significant safeguarding concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 4 Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that an independent visitor attends the home monthly. Without this necessary independent quality assurance process in place, these shortfalls have not been identified. This reduces the external safeguard intended.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not shared all relevant safeguarding incidents with Ofsted. The failure to notify hinders Ofsted’s ability to promptly monitor the home and understand the risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to understand the impact the quality of care is having on the child’s progress and experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff said that they feel supported by the manager. The manager is enthusiastic and focused on the child. The staff described the manager as ‘naturally caring and calm’. The manager has started to build a positive relationship with the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management and is working towards her level 5 qualification in residential childcare. Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 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

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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 14 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 6 In particular, ensure that: managers understand the importance of sharing safeguarding information with external agencies and children’s professionals without delay;

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Requirement Due date

the home is safe and secure and is as detailed in the risk management plan;

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Requirement Due date

there are enough staff deployed to reflect the agreed supervision levels in the child’s care plan and court order;

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Requirement Due date

staff implement the missing-from-home protocol and are clear about how to support a child effectively to enable their safe return to the home.

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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

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that there is a realistic and reliable contingency plan to support the registered manager with the safe day-to-day running of the home; 14 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 7 monitor incidents and review with the staff in supervision sessions and team meetings to identify practice improvement and any support required;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that records of incidents are reviewed and written promptly and provide accurate and up-to-date information;

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Requirement Due date

evaluate and review the child’s experiences to enable learning and improve the quality of care provided.

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the responsible individual must be available to provide necessary support to the registered manager and the staff when required. 14 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 14 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. 14 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 8 The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2818768 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Excellence Consulting Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71 to 75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspector

Sarah Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2818768 10 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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