Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 1 SC068664 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care 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 owned by a private provider. It offers care for up to five children who may experience emotional and social difficulties and who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection and three of them were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be 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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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/07/2024 Full Good 20/09/2023 Full Good 22/02/2023 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 3

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improvement to be good

This inspection was brought forward in order to address specific concerns or allegations received by Ofsted.

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improvement to be good

Children have differing experiences of living in this home. While some children make progress in areas such as managing their emotions, others do not feel settled in the home or have needs that staff are unable to meet.

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improvement to be good

Not all children attend education as they do not have an appropriate school place. Despite the manager’s challenge to the relevant agencies, this can continue for many months. This places children at a disadvantage both academically and socially. Staff offer informal learning, but this does not compensate for structured learning. This was a recommendation for improvement at the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children experience lengthy delays for the necessary support and assessments from health professionals. This can result in a delay in receiving the specialist help or support they need for neurodevelopmental conditions. While leaders and managers collaborate with other professionals to try and secure these assessments for children, their efforts are unsuccessful and the delay is not challenged effectively.

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improvement to be good

Low staffing ratios affect staff’s ability to deliver new and exciting opportunities and activities for children. Staff find it difficult balancing the delivery of excursions and activities with managing appointments and schedules for children. A lack of activity outside the home can lead to a high degree of isolation for children. Children benefited from a holiday last year, and there are plans to repeat the trip this year.

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improvement to be good

The home is an attractive old property with some beautiful original features. While it offers space and has a welcoming feel, there are signs of wear and tear. Areas identified for improvement can be left for months before being addressed. The children’s bedrooms are personalised to reflect their interests, which encourages them to develop their individuality.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the independent visitor has repeatedly noted that children’s bedrooms can become unkempt. During the inspection, the rooms that were seen were tidy. Staff do support children to maintain their rooms, but their planned assistance has sometimes been insufficient and children may benefit from a nurturing approach.

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improvement to be good

For those children who do settle in the home there have been evident achievements. Children have matured, developed trusted relationships with the staff, and been successful in their learning. Staff are committed to the children and speak warmly and enthusiastically about them. Children feel able to explore their identity and staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 4 consistently use appropriate and non-judgemental language in recognition of children’s sense of identity.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to learn independence skills, creating opportunity for them to make choices. This is crucial for their development and equips them with the confidence and skills needed for adulthood. Children also take appropriate learning from their key- work conversations, developing an understanding of how to keep themselves safe and develop positive attitudes.

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improvement to be good

There have been occasions when staff have not gone out to search for missing children or have not been sufficiently persistent in their efforts to locate children. This does not promote their swift and safe return. There has been an isolated incident when staff were unaware that a child had left the home. The child’s absence from the home was prolonged as welfare checks were not routinely carried out by staff. This leaves children exposed to potential risks.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments and safety plans are clearly recorded. The plans for when children go missing are also clear and up to date. However, plans are not followed on every occasion and the manager has not identified this. Staff do show a sound knowledge of what the plans require them to do and will liaise with others, including the police, to promote children’s safety. However, there is a lack of curiosity about aspects of the children’s presenting risks and a minimisation of the impact of children’s behaviours on their peers.

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improvement to be good

There have been several significant incidents that should have been notified to the regulator. This reduces the regulator’s opportunity to have oversight of practice in the home and check that appropriate actions have been taken to protect children.

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improvement to be good

Children have not needed to be physically held for their or other’s safety. This is positive and shows the good relationships staff build with children. Despite not needing to use physical intervention techniques, staff are suitably trained, and plans are in place to manage children’s behaviours in a positive and constructive way.

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

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. She is dedicated to the children and talks knowledgeably about them. Since the last full inspection, she has spent some of her time supporting in the provider’s other children’s homes and helping other staff teams. This has placed additional demands on her time and affected her oversight of incidents and the management of staff practice issues.

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

Staff restrict children’s access to some areas in the home, including two toilets and the towel cupboard. It is important that children have freedom of access as they would in a Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 5 family home. Some of the decisions about access have been taken without the manager’s authority. This was addressed during the inspection.

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

Financial sanctions are imposed if children cause damage in the home. However, this reparation is not always proportionate to children’s income. The system for pocket money has rules that can result in children repeatedly forfeiting most of their money and being left with virtually nothing.

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

Team meetings and training sessions are crucial in enhancing staff knowledge and skills and develop their ability to provide consistent care for children. Professionals and staff speak well of the manager and there is evidence of close multi-agency working. Despite the demands on her time, the manager audits the home effectively and provides reflective supervision to staff.

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

The manager had already identified and escalated to senior leaders the need for an assistant manager and an additional staff member. The manager recognises the strengths and weaknesses of the home, and the needs of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 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 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)) 31 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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 each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c)) 31 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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 staff— 31 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 7 help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii))

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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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)) 31 July 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 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)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 31 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is presented and maintained to a suitably good standard. Staff should seek to meet the children’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 8 needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature. This is to help children to recognise the impact of

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Recommendations

their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: SC068664 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport SK2 6LR

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Inspector

Rachel Ruth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 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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Inspector

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