Children's home run by Westmorland and Furness Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 1 Registered provider: Westmorland and Furness 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 home is owned and operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 1 April 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three 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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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 26 November 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

An assurance inspection took place on 6 March 2025. The regulation 44 report raised concerns for the safeguarding of the children living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/11/2024 Full Good 24/10/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are serious failures that mean children’s welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. Their care and experiences are variable, and for some children this has impacted on their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Not all children have a positive experience living in the home. A challenging dynamic that was not carefully considered led to children becoming involved in risk-taking behaviours together. Children were exposed to harm, which significantly impacted on their physical and mental well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Moves out of the home are not always positive. One child’s move out of the home happened quickly and was difficult and confusing for the child. The team provided a significant amount of support to help the child to settle into another of the provider’s homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to access health appointment to address their health needs. Referrals are made to specialist teams for support. However, staff have not had sufficient training to meet the individualised needs of one child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Although staff have tried to support children to stop vaping, this work has been unsuccessful. Staff have not been effective in helping children to consider their achievements and to consider different strategies to manage their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

All children attend education. The progress for children is varied depending on their starting points. Progress for one child has improved, with them sitting exams and planning for their future education. Incentives are in place to encourage another child’s attendance. This has supported them to have a better routine.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are several opportunities for children to share their views on different areas of their care and homelife. Children have shared their wishes for the refurbishment of the games room, holiday plans for the summer and their hopes for family time.

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

A child was harmed due to safeguarding failings. Managers did not consider the potential risks to the child from attending a planned event. Managers made decisions in isolation of other professionals. They did not follow the specific directions of the placing authority social worker and did not involve the emergency duty team in decision-making.

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

Door alarms are used on all children’s bedrooms at night. Risk assessments do not identify this as being necessary to safeguard all the children living in the home. Regular reviews of this measure do not take place, and children are not supported to understand their use. This represents an invasion of children’s right to privacy. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 4 Any consequences used to support children’s understanding of their behaviours are proportionate and are used in a reparative way. However, the manager’s review of the effectiveness of these measures lacks sufficient detail.

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

Staff follow relevant protocols when children go missing from the home. There are detailed recordings of incidents, and the records include an oversight by managers.

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

When behavioural incidents arise in the home, staff respond appropriately and proactively. As a result, there have been no instances of staff physically holding children.

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

Allegations made by children are taken seriously. Staff show curiosity about children’s comments and follow these up with professionals appropriately. Procedures are followed and a chronology kept to support the consideration of any patterns and themes. The manager works with the relevant professionals to understand children’s behaviours and to discuss safety plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has reflected on recent incidents and takes responsibility for her actions. She acknowledges the shortfalls in practice in the home and is supported by leaders to make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Poor communication between the manager and members of her team led to a lack of robust decision-making to keep children safe. The manager did not take time to ensure that all relevant parties were involved in decision-making. The manager did not ensure that family members and staff were clear about what was expected of them to help keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a stable staff team in place. There are weekly staff meetings in place. Meetings have set agendas and provide opportunities for staff to reflect and to recognise the strengths in the team. The manager uses the time to reinforce the rules and boundaries in place for children. There is effective input into team meetings from the emotional health and well-being team to support staff with therapeutic practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervisions take place regularly. Sessions are reflective and support staff to consider their practice and how they can develop in their roles. Managers’ oversight of staff practice is detailed and is evident across all areas of the service. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that any instructions from children’s social workers are clearly recorded on children’s files and shared appropriately. 3 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 6 They must ensure that the directions given by the child’s social worker are understood by all managers and staff.

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Requirement Due date

They must ensure that there are processes in place for the placing authority to confirm any arrangements for family time or any changes to family time before it takes place, and that staff understand and follow these processes to ensure that children are kept safe.

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Requirement Due date

They must also ensure that staff understand the expectations of them and the family when they are supervising family time.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 3 August 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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; 30 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 7 understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is registered as a patient with a general medical practitioner and a registered dental practitioner; and

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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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff understanding how to support children to engage in specific physical exercises to improve their speech and language therapy outcomes.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the previous inspection.

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should work closely with the placing authority to understand the child’s relationship history and the impact that the child’s arrival may have on the group living in the home. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.3)  The registered person should ensure that annual appraisals of staff take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being. Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key

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Recommendations

areas of health and well-being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18) Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 8  The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are reviewed to ensure that their use is fair and effective. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36) Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 9

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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: 2732719 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Westmorland and Furness Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Westmorland and Furness Council, Town Hall, Duke Street, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria LA14 2LD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Elizabeth Curtis

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Inspector

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2732719 11 inspects to 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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