Children's Home run by Central and Southern Homes Limited in Devon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2799237 1 Registered provider: Central and Southern Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides long-term care for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

One child has moved out of the home since the last full inspection. One child currently lives in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024.

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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: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Compliance notices were issued under Regulation 6, Regulation 12 and Regulation 13 following a full inspection on 11 and 12 March 2025. During a monitoring visit on 8 April 2025 these notices were deemed to be met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2799237 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2025 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2799237 3

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improvement to be good

The inspector spent time with the child, who showed them their bedroom and some items they bought on a recent outing. Throughout the inspection, the child spoke regularly to staff and appeared relaxed in the home environment. Relationships between the child and staff have significantly improved. Staff now have a better understanding of the child and their previous experiences as a result of the time they spend getting to know them. Staff recognise that this helps them form stronger relationships.

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improvement to be good

Staff and the manager understand the importance of communication between the home and external agencies, and manage this well. This helps the child maintain regular school attendance and access external therapeutic support.

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improvement to be good

Staff have limited communication with the child’s family. The manager has placed too much reliance on the child to initiate and manage this and has not been proactive in finding alternative ways to strengthen communication with certain family members.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not undertaken effective or timely planning for the child in respect of their future. Staff support the child to work on some areas of independence, but the plan for the child is unclear. The staff, the child, the manager and the senior manager each have differing views on the next steps for the child. Senior managers identify that the child will likely struggle in a semi-independent setting, but this is yet to have been articulated to the child’s social worker. There is no clear plan to assess the child's capabilities for living independently.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks associated with self-harm and mental health concerning the child. Staff can explain how they respond to these situations, but the plans do not clearly set out what actions they should take to manage these risks, or steps to reduce them.

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improvement to be good

Staff have meaningful conversations with the child to help them to make positive choices in respect of friendships and relationships. The recordings of these conversations are varied in quality, impacting on the managers understanding of their effectiveness.

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improvement to be good

Staff worked with the child to develop an online safety agreement. The agreement does not indicate what boundaries or safety measures are in place to keep the child safe. Staff rely on the child, due to their age, to self-regulate their mobile phone use, despite a known difference between their chronological and developmental age. This results in the child staying up until the early hours of the morning on their mobile phone and not attending school the following day. The manager does not have a clear plan or approach to addressing online safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 2799237 4 Incidents in the home are rare. This supports a feeling of calm, which, in turn, helps the child feel more settled.

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

The manager has positive aspirations for the child and knows them well. However, due to a lack of robust and clear planning, these aspirations may have little impact on the child, particularly once they move on from the home.

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

The manager provides oversight of incidents but does not always identify recording concerns or raise these with staff. The manager’s response is not always proactive. The manager understands the home’s strengths and areas for development, but some of these areas do not have a clear plan to address them.

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

Senior leaders are providing guidance and oversight to help support the manager. Leaders and managers have not challenged the response of the placing authority effectively in relation to a lack of planning around the next steps for the child in the home.

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

Staff are happy working in the home; there is now regular supervision and a general increase in oversight of practice. Staff say that supervision sessions are helpful in supporting them in doing their jobs. A member of staff who recently began working in the home feels well supported.

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

The manager involves the child in decision-making, such as in relation to the decor and changes made to the home. The environment is warm and welcoming and supports a feeling of calm.

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

Leaders have improved the overall day-to-day running of the home, which has a positive effect for children, but there are concerns around a lack of proactive and robust care planning by the registered person. Inspection report for children’s home: 2799237 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must appropriately challenge the relevant authorities when their response to independence planning for children is ineffective and/or delayed. 1 July 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

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

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;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are clear and regularly updated plans to support children who self- harm, providing staff with clear guidance on how to manage these incidents. 1 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2799237 6 The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are robust and clear plans for children to support them effectively when they move from the home, especially when there is a plan to move to live independently. 1 July 2025

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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: 2799237 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Central and Southern Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pitmaston House, Malvern Road, Worcester WR2 4LL

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Inspector

Helen Cushnie, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2799237 8 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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