Children's Home run by Radical Services Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children's home: SC476083 1 SC476083 Registered provider: Radical Services Limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private organisation and provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in 2015. There has been no registered manager since 25 May 2025. A new manager has been appointed but is not yet in post.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of this inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC476083 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/05/2023 Full Inadequate 28/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC476083 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has developed meaningful relationships with staff, which supports them to discuss their experiences, views and hopes for the future. Staff are attuned to the child and pick up on their cues. Staff use a trauma-informed approach effectively to support the child’s needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is making good progress with education. Staff are creative in how they support the child with revision and learning outside of school. The child is supported to think about their aspirations, using activities like making a bucket list and forward plans to think about their goals. Parallel planning is used to ensure that arrangements are in place for the child’s further education both where they live and in the child’s home area.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has good routines in place. These include weekly sessions with the provider’s well-being practitioner which provide opportunities for the child to access emotional support outside of the home. The therapeutic team works well with staff to develop plans and to support practice.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s medical needs are well met. Staff support the child to attend appointments, and they encourage them to take responsibility, including being responsible for their own medication. There are risk assessments in place for this, with regular reviews taking place with the child. The review report includes staff signatures to confirm their understanding but does not include the child’s confirmation.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carry out good-quality planned and responsive work with the child to help improve their self-esteem. This supports concerns around self-harm and unhealthy relationships. The child’s interests in cricket and music are encouraged and the team has worked with the child to plan and prepare for a trip to Paris.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to spend time with their family and friends. The team has developed relationships with family members, which supports effective communication between them.

p.3

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

The risk assessment for the child is detailed and includes measures to mitigate known risk. This was not updated in a timely way after information came to light which could pose a further risk to the child. The information was discussed with staff and the child’s family in a timely way, meaning that measures were put in place to ensure that there was no immediate risk to the child.

p.3

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

Managers contacted the child’s placing authority to advise them of the concerns. There was a lack of response from the placing authority and delays in them acknowledging the Inspection report for children's home: SC476083 4 manager’s concerns. Managers worked with other professionals to make referrals to the relevant agencies to support a better understanding of the potential risks to the child.

p.3

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

The quality of relationships between the child and staff means that there are meaningful discussions around the concerns for their safety. The child is supported to reflect on these discussions and staff use interactive resources to support the child’s understanding.

p.4

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

There are arrangements in place to support the child’s safe use of a mobile phone. This includes daily checks of the phone and follow-up discussions with the child.

p.4

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

Staff use room searches to good effect to support the child’s safety in relation to self- harm. There has been a reduction in incidents of self-harm. Staff remain vigilant to this as they understand the current pressures for the child in education and relationships.

p.4

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

There have been no incidents of the child going missing from the home and no need for staff to use any physical intervention.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy both left the home recently. A new deputy is in post and a new manager has been appointed but is yet to start. Leaders have ensured that there is good daily support in place in the home. Professionals involved with the child feel there has been no negative impact on the child from the changes.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers focus on the child’s needs and any potential impact on them when making decisions about further referrals to the home. Managers advocate well for the child in relation to education, their free time and family time.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have positive relationships with professionals and work together in the child’s best interests. A period of absence for the child’s social worker has led to delays with statutory visits and key discussions about risks for the child. Managers have followed this up but there is no process in place to ensure that concerns are escalated effectively.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained in subjects that support them to meet the child’s needs. Staff feel well supported in their roles and their development. Managers recognise staff skills and interests and how these can used effectively to benefit the child’s progress.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a positive team spirit, with events such as house barbecues which bring the team together around the child. This impacts positively on the child, who sees the team as having family roles in the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are child focused and have good staff input. However, there is no set structure for the meetings to support oversight of actions for improvement. Staff supervision is meaningful and of good quality. Staff feel able to share their views openly and that any concerns will be addressed by managers. This shows a culture of improvement and transparency in the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC476083 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that risk assessments are updated in a timely way. 31 July 2025

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

p.5

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 (a)(c))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that there is a clear process in place to follow up and escalate concerns with the child’s placing authority when there is a lack of engagement. 31 July 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC476083 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that team meetings follow a clear agenda and that records identify actions to improve practice and track progress to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that children are supported to safely administer their own medication. Reviews carried out with children to assess their ability to self- medicate should demonstrate that children understand them and have signed to acknowledge this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.16)

p.6

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: SC476083 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Radical Services Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

p.7

Inspector

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC476083 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8