SC 040491

Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 1 SC040132 Registered provider: Cornwall Council

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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 children’s home can provide care for two children who may have physical disabilities or learning disabilities. At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/08/2021 Full Inadequate 11/09/2019 Full Good 24/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 3

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improvement to be good

The children who live at the home were present for this inspection and spoken to. The inspector spent time hearing about a child’s recent roller rink activity and singing at karaoke, as well as the importance of spending time with those important to them. However, children are not routinely supported to enjoy activities and experiences outside of the home.

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improvement to be good

Children attend school consistently. Although there is effective communication between staff and one child’s school, this is not the same for the other child, and at times they are not receiving education which promotes best outcomes. This shortfall is known by the registered manager and has not been robustly challenged.

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improvement to be good

The staff know the children well. They listen to them and spend time building secure relationships. Staff love and care for the children. Children are supported to participate in day-to-day decisions about their lives. Staff praise the children. Any achievements, no matter how small, are celebrated. However, the way in which achievements are recorded within the home are not age appropriate.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to have good health and manage lifelong conditions. Ongoing health needs are identified and effective working with health agencies has ensured timely interventions for the children.

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improvement to be good

Moves into the home are well planned and at a pace that suit the children’s needs. There is also consideration for children already in the home and the impact of any new children. One child has moved on from the home. This was planned and there was preparation for both the child moving and the child remaining in the home. However, there is a lack of effective preparation for one child to move out of the home. This may cause anxiety for the child and does not help to promote a positive move.

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improvement to be good

Restraint is used in this home. Risk reduction plans have been seen; however, these are yet to have any positive impact on the level of restraint being used. The incidents are not recorded effectively; they are confusing and do not correlate to the plans in place. The reports are not reviewed effectively by managers for patterns of behaviour from the children or staff practice. This also does not identify learning in respect of better ways to help children manage their feelings without resulting in restraint.

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improvement to be good

The views of the children involved are poorly captured, which does not allow for their understanding of the incidents to be carefully and properly understood. Leaders and Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 4 managers are aware of this shortfall in practice and have identified the areas where improvement is needed.

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improvement to be good

Care planning for one child is not current and does not clarify important information about how care can be provided in line with an individual deprivation of liberty (DoL) order. In addition to this, staff have not always followed care plans when supporting children to manage difficult emotions, resulting in incidents where children in the home are not always safeguarded.

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improvement to be good

Staff have built effective links with professionals involved in the care and protection of the children in the home. They communicate regularly with a range of external professionals to support the children’s physical and emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

Careful recruitment is in place; however, the monitoring of staff Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks is not robust and has resulted in one member of staff working without a DBS in place. The risk assessment in place does not address safeguards and mitigations to all aspects of their role and was completed without a protocol or guidance from the organisation.

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

There is a registered manager in post. Leaders and managers have recently commissioned a new independent visitor to ensure they can learn and improve practice. Leaders and managers have completed audits of the care provided to improve the experiences of the children in their care. However, the learning is not always swiftly conveyed to the staff team to effect change in a timely way.

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

Training and development of the staff team takes place by way of standardised training and takes place after staff start work in the home. Training to meet the specific needs of children is not completed in a timely way. At times staff work in the home without having first trained in the safeguarding of disabled children. Therefore, staff practice is not always consistent with the home’s objectives as set out in its statement of purpose.

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

Supervision has not been prioritised and is not consistently taking place. This has meant in a period of crisis in the home that where supervision would have been beneficial to support staff, it did not take place. Supervision records lack focus on safeguarding for the children and lack reflections by staff on their practice, to enable the quality of care that is provided to children to be considered and enhanced.

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

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. Leaders and managers have used recent team meetings to address practice issues. However, the way in which these have been conducted has resulted in staff feeling criticised and disempowered. There is an ethos of blame in the home. There is a culture of mistrust of the management team in place. Some staff have lost confidence in the support of senior managers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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

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understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice.

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that the care is approved, and kept under review throughout its duration, by the placing authority;

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that the care is delivered by a person who—

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has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(a)(b)(iv)(ix) (3)(a)(b)(c)(i)) 17 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s care plans are up to date and reflect any DoL order in place that impacts on the children’s care.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered manager must ensure that staff understand and follow the care plans in place.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered manager must ensure that staff have been adequately trained prior to commencing work in this specialised area.

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

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

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help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all children are supported to explore their feelings and views in an appropriate time frame after episodes of restraint. 17 July 2025

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The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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positive responses to other children and adults.

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

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are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the 17 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 7 behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same.

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In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff receive regular and consistent supervision.

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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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helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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

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

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ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(e))

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In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff work as a team, provide consistent care and approach their roles in line with the home’s statement of purpose.

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In addition, the registered person should lead a culture of professionalism with a focus on children’s welfare, progress and futures. 17 July 2025

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

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how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. 17 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 8 The registered person must ensure that—

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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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details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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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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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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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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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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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that records of restraint include clear details on all aspects of the event.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure they monitor records to ensure they are accurate. Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 9 In addition, the registered person must review the effectiveness and appropriateness of any measure or control.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home provides a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of their children. The home should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)  The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them and includes robust risk assessments in the absence of a DBS certificate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC040132 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro TR1 3AY

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Inspector

Hannah Spencer-Townesend, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC040132 11 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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