Children's Home run by BTTLR Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2556338 1 Registered provider: BTTLR Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and provides care for one child who may require support with emotional and social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home and their views were sought.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A manager has been appointed but is not yet registered with Ofsted. At the time of the inspection, the manager was absent. The inspection was supported by the operations manager.

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 requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 29 October 2024

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: 2556338 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/06/2023 Full Inadequate 12/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2556338 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home in a planned and sensitive manner.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to explore their interests and hobbies. They are supported to attend community activities such as local clubs, which also helps to build their social network. The child is therefore supported to develop their independence and benefits from having new experiences.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child attends education regularly. Staff work closely with education providers and the local authority to ensure effective partnership working to help the child reintegrate into education and make good progress. This is significant for the child, having been out of education for a period.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the child’s health needs. The child is supported to attend medical appointments. When the child does not wish to attend an appointment, staff work with them to help them understand the benefits of meeting their health needs. Staff encourage the child to lead a healthy lifestyle and to be physically active. This helps to maintain the child’s physical and emotional well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to spend time with people who are most important to them. Staff make sure that the time the child spends with their family and friends is positive and consistent, and they follow plans made in conjunction with the local authority. This contributes to the stability of the child’s placement.

p.3

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

Staff know the risks that the child can be exposed to. Support plans are made in collaboration with partner agencies. Assessments of risk are balanced between keeping the child safe and allowing them to take age-appropriate risks. Risk assessments are regularly updated, and this provides staff with the direction they need to support and protect the child.

p.3

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

An increased number of incidents of the child going missing from home have been well managed. Staff actively look for the child and work in collaboration with partner agencies when incidents occur. Recordings of incidents are detailed and demonstrate staff’s understanding of the policy. However, the recordings do not identify whether a return home interview has been completed, following the child’s return to the home.

p.3

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

Overall, the child knows that staff will listen to them and take them seriously. Therefore, the child can be open about their feelings and emotions. Regular one-to-one conversations, which are both planned and spontaneous, give the child the opportunity to share their wishes and feelings. These discussions are recorded, and the manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2556338 4 provides oversight and directs actions, where required. Staff complete these actions in a timely manner.

p.3

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

Robust recruitment procedures are in place that ensure that staff working with children are suitable to do so. The manager has effective systems in place to monitor and review staff’s continued suitability.

p.4

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

An operations manager is leading the home during the manager’s absence. He is ambitious and has high expectations of staff. He provides oversight and feedback to the staff team. The operation manager’s oversight of the home has improved, and he has developed systems to help both him and the manager monitor the quality of care and the daily functioning of the home. However, this is a newly implemented system and has not had sufficient opportunity to embed.

p.4

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

Staff undertake training in safeguarding and child protection, which helps to ensure that the child’s risks and vulnerabilities are understood. However, safeguarding is not consistently discussed within staff supervision discussions. This limits the impact of reflection and learning opportunities for staff.

p.4

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

Not all staff have completed training in the home’s preferred model of physical intervention. Managers have now taken steps to address this. However, they had not done so in a timely manner.

p.4

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

The operations manager has developed a positive relationship with external agencies, including the child’s local authority. However, the manager has not taken steps to escalate a lack of documentation required in a timely manner. This means that there is a risk that staff are not provided with the most up-to-date information.

p.4

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

The statement of purpose does not accurately reflect the care provided for children. It does not include all matters, as outlined by regulation, in detailing the experience and qualifications of staff and details of the management and staffing structure of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2556338 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential;

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home

p.5

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(f)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that a robust quality assurance process is in place to monitor the quality of care provided. This also refers to ensuring that staff are trained in line with the home’s statement of purpose and that supervisions are completed to a consistent standard in the timeframe as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. 14 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2556338 6 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.6

Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

p.6

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 and ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(a)(b)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the most up-to-date documents are received from the local authority and are escalated when there is a delay in their receipt. 14 August 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if-

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 17 July 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

a child, or a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

p.6

Requirement Due date

a parent of a child, or a parent of a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 14 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2556338 7 keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d) (3)(a)(b))

p.7

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: 2556338 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 3, Ground Floor, Michael Way, Raunds, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN9 6GR

p.8

Inspector

Caroline Coop, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2556338 9 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.8

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.9

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9