Children's Home run by North East Lincolnshire Council in North East Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033127 1 SC033127 Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire 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 North East Lincolnshire Council and is registered to provide care for up to 11 children with special educational needs, learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Some children live in the home, whereas others receive short-break overnight care. At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home, and two children were staying for an overnight stay. Five children were spoken to as part of the inspection. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since November 2023 and was present throughout the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC033127 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/08/2024 Full Good 30/04/2024 Full Inadequate 17/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC033127 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with care in a nurturing home where their needs are met. This supports children to build positive and safe relationships with staff. Children’s views are valued. Staff seek out the child’s voice to involve them in their plans and decision- making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress from their starting points. Children are supported to take part in activities as a new experience or that are otherwise unavailable to them. One parent said they appreciate the activities provided as they could not provide these at home without specialist support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a staff team that prioritises their well-being. Health needs are known and understood by a knowledgeable staff team to promote staying healthy. The arrangements for managing medication are safe and effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are achieving in education, which staff encourage and support. Staff build up positive relationships with education professionals to support children attending school and having the opportunity to achieve. One child came to live at the home without a named school. This was addressed in a timely way and a school was identified. Staff attend school events. This means there is multi-agency collaboration and consistency, which supports children to prepare for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions out of the home are planned to provide a positive experience for the child. Staff who know the children focus on preparation and planning; they challenge the multi-agency professionals to ensure the child’s voice is heard in the process. Transitions for children still living at the home are thoughtfully planned in a timely way to positively prepare children for independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning is brief with limited information. Children who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively. Staff use the information that is known to ensure the offer of care meets their needs. However, the needs of other children who live in the home or spend time there are not always considered.

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

Children feel safe and trust staff. Staff understand children who have additional and complex needs. Effective collaboration between multi-agency professionals promotes the well-being of the children to safeguard them. Parents feel happy that their children are safe. One parent said that she could not thank staff enough. Staff are building effective relationships with families.

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

Staff are skilled at de-escalation strategies. Risk assessments are completed and the children’s individual risks are known. Staff understand children’s communication methods Inspection report for children’s home: SC033127 4 to communicate effectively. The settled period and lack of incidents suggest staff know the risks and how to respond to children effectively to de-escalate any potentially challenging situations.

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

Children are supported to understand their own emotions. Staff recognise what is safe for each child and the triggers for behaviours. Children are encouraged to use their personal space to have time to themselves with privacy. In doing this, children have started to understand what helps them manage their own emotions safely.

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

Staff training is provided to ensure that staff are knowledgeable to meet children’s needs. However, not all training identified as essential by the provider is currently offered to staff. The essential training needs to reflect the care offered to the children to ensure that staff can meet all children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a permanent manager. The home is staffed effectively to ensure consistency. Staff have confidence in their registered manager, who is visible and approachable. Recruitment has been positive and effective in managing vacancies across the home. Safer recruitment checks are completed

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses a monitoring and review system to track the quality of care. It identifies patterns or trends effectively so that the manager can address them. The manager quality assures some written documents to ensure they meet the required standard. There are differences in the quality and completeness of recording seen in children’s files. This detracts from the overall quality of recording in general and the integrity of the documents. Where the children’s comments are expected, this is left blank. This is a missed opportunity to review plans with the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager completes a quality of care review. The report does not include feedback from the child regarding the home they live in, or the care provided. This prevents the regulator from understanding the child’s perspective in its oversight and review of progress in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the managers. The manager and her deputy are visible in the home and are always contactable. Supervision takes place frequently. However, the quality of supervision records is inconsistent and lacks reflection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033127 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1) (2)(b)) 25 September 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children’s home: SC033127 6 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC033127 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Municipal Offices, Town Hall Square, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire DN31 1HU

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Inspector

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033127 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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