Children's Home run by Kirklees Council in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 1 SC033367 Registered provider: Kirklees Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority. It offers care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2024, but they are not currently in work. An acting manager is providing cover in the manager’s absence; however, they have not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

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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 provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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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: SC033367 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/06/2024 Full Good 06/03/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/07/2022 Full Inadequate 28/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children spoke with the inspector during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a staff team they trust to meet their needs. Staff educate and encourage children to show and demonstrate respect for each other, adults and their environment. Children show a level of stability from their starting points and have meaningful interactions with the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are enrolled in education. Professionals said staff and management work hard to encourage and support children's learning. Staff understand barriers that affect children’s education and sensitively encourage children to attend their education settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to all health services, including GP, dentist and sexual health services. There is a therapeutic worker linked to the home who can support children in relation to their mental and emotional health. Staff respond appropriately to any health issues that arise with the children and encourage them to take responsibility for their own health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop children’s independence skills early to prepare them for life after they leave the home. Staff regularly review transition plans with children, taking into account their thoughts and feelings. When children move on from the home, this is done in a planned and child-centred way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children maintaining important relationships. Children's family time arrangements are supported and promoted when it is safe to do so. Staff understand the sensitivity of some family dynamics and take this into account when speaking with children about their loved ones.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a high standard. Staff lock one communal room when children do not attend education. This restriction limits children's full access to the home and prevents them from using fitness equipment and participating in leisure activities. The provider immediately made plans to address this issue.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments do not always include all actions staff should take to manage individual vulnerabilities. Risk management plans often direct how staff should respond if risks occur rather than outlining all preventative steps staff should take to reduce the likelihood of risks occurring. When risk assessments are reviewed, they do not always reflect the current level of risk that children face. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 4 Staff do not always understand how to implement behaviour management strategies. Staff are often inconsistent in their approaches with children and are unclear on the difference between rules and consequences. Staff have enforced consequences when children have not broken any rules. This inconsistent practice is confusing for children.

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improvement to be good

There is a lack of discussion and education with children following incidents. This has meant children have not learned from incidents, which has led to reoccurrence. When consequences are imposed, the process to monitor their effectiveness is across two platforms, making this difficult to evaluate for leaders and managers.

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improvement to be good

Staff carry out searches of children’s bedrooms proportionately to keep children safe. Children are aware room searches take place; however, searches are often carried out before informing children, without any immediate risk concerns, which has resulted in children being frustrated at not involved in the process.

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improvement to be good

Medication administration is not always recorded in line with policy. There have also been some medication errors. Leaders’ and managers’ audit processes had not identified or addressed these shortfalls.

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improvement to be good

Staff only hold children when necessary to keep everyone safe. However, some incidents of physical intervention have occurred following escalations in children’s behaviour. On occasion, this followed inconsistent boundaries implemented by staff.

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improvement to be good

Children who go missing experience a well-coordinated response from staff. There are clear plans of action in place for staff to follow, and incidents are reviewed for learning. Staff build a picture of the network around children to better inform their response, and they collaborate with other agencies to share information to keep children safe.

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

There is a recently established leadership team in the local authority. This team has prioritised learning the strengths and areas for development across all settings. A strategic plan has been created to overcome ongoing challenges.

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

Monitoring and oversight processes do not always identify errors or areas for improvement effectively, such as ensuring that children’s views are accurately captured and their wishes acted on. While not all recommendations and requirements from the previous inspection have been fully met, leaders and managers have demonstrated a commitment to responding to feedback and have begun taking steps to enhance monitoring and oversight systems. This includes refining quality assurance processes to provide meaningful scrutiny, ensuring that they contribute to informed decision-making and drive continuous improvement.

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

Leaders and managers have begun to create an ethos for the home. This includes clear responsibilities for all staff and approaches to behaviour management. Leaders and managers are taking a deliberate and structured approach to driving change in the home. However, this is in its infancy. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 5 Staff want to work in the best interests of children, and they feel supported by their manager to do so. Staff said that they can reflect on their practice and take away any learning following incidents. Staff are encouraged to develop as a team, with regular team meetings and development days taking place to ensure that they understand their roles and work consistently.

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

The manager works proactively and positively with other agencies and professionals. These effective working relationships are viewed as constructive by professionals, and feedback is positive. Professionals expressed confidence in the acting manager's approach to managing the service. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 ensure—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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)(a)(b)(h)) 3 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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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; 1 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 7 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 name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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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

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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

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Requirement Due date

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 (1)(b) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s 3 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 8 best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s bedrooms are not entered without their permission, unless necessary. However, it is necessary to establish routines to allow for rooms to be cleaned regularly. In addition, children’s bedrooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission, unless there are specific reasons not to do so. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan should include details of the steps the home will take to manage risk on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that behaviour management is always

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Recommendations

understood and applied by staff, and it should be reviewed and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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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: SC033367 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic 3, Market Street, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD1 2EY

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Inspector

Vikki Thwaites, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033367 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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