Children's home run by Social Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 1 Registered provider: Social Care Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private organisation. It provides care for two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. The inspector spoke to both children about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2025.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 2680502 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/06/2024 Full Good 17/10/2023 Full Good 25/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they are happy living in the home. One child said, ‘Everything is perfect.’ Staff work hard to build trusting relationships with children. This assists staff to have difficult conversations with children and explore worrying issues that may be impacting them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s progress and attendance in education. One child has completed their GCSEs, and the other child is continuing to make progress. This support provided by the team ensures that children are helped to develop the skills they need to achieve their aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s time with their family and friends is supported in line with children’s plans. This helps children to maintain important relationships and increases their sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend health appointments. When required, referrals are made to specialist health services. In addition, children are supported by therapeutic services. This support enables children to begin to understand and make sense of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children spend time together enjoying positive activities and both children have been on holiday. These activities help children to develop essential social skills and build their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff hold important conversation with children. Direct work undertaken with children is meaningful and responsive to the children’s needs. This increases the children’s understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a welcoming and homely environment. However, staff have not removed graffiti from a child’s bedroom. This does not ensure that children live in a comfortable environment or that they are helped to take pride in the home. Door alarms are routinely used on the children’s bedroom doors. The management team has a clear rationale for this. However, written consent has not been received from children’s social workers.

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

Children are safeguarded effectively. Children’s risks and vulnerabilities are understood by staff. The children’s risk plans are clear and detailed. They provide information for staff to follow to help children if there are incidents.

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

Safeguarding incidents are dealt with effectively by staff and managers. When an allegation against an adult is made, the manager takes swift action to ensure that the children are safe and to inform the appropriate agencies in accordance with the home’s safeguarding policy. However, a number of serious incidents have not been notified to Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 4 Ofsted as required by regulation. This limits the regulator’s oversight of practice in the home.

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

Staff understand the risks associated with children going missing from the home. Staff take appropriate action, including looking for the child and collaborating with other professionals to ensure that children are helped to return safely. After each incident, children are spoken to by an independent person to seek their views on why they were missing from the home. This helps to support children to reduce the risk of further incidents.

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

Professionals are complimentary about the care the children receive. Staff have developed professional relationships with external agencies and are able to appropriately challenge others to ensure that children’s needs are being met.

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

Consequences are not restorative in nature and do not provide children with helpful learning opportunities. It is not always clear if they are effective and how many actual consequences have been given.

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

Safer recruitment processes are not always in place. On one occasion, the manager did not ensure that checks were carried out in line with regulation before staff started working in the home. This does not ensure that adults working with children are safe to do so.

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

The manager is new to the role and is developing his knowledge of the role. He is motivated and committed to improving outcomes for children.

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

Managers ensure that staff receive an appropriate induction and regular, reflective supervisions. Staff are positive about the support they receive from the manager. However, not all staff have had an annual appraisal. This does not help staff to have formal opportunities for reflection and future development.

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

Staff benefit from regular training opportunities including in the home’s therapeutic model. However, not all training has been undertaken to meet children’s needs or is in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Consequently, the manager cannot be assured that staff are confident in their role and understand the risks and vulnerabilities for children.

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

Team meetings take place regularly, providing opportunities for staff to reflect on the children’s care. This improves consistency in staff’s practice.

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

Leaders and managers can identify opportunities for further development. However, they do not have effective monitoring systems in place. This limits management oversight of practice in the home. Documents are not always written in a non-stigmatising way or ways that are helpful for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 5 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 6

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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 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;

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of the children are best met; 26 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 7 and the 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)(d)(e)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure there are effective monitoring systems in place including the workforce development plan and staff have their performance and fitness to perform their role appraised at least every one year.

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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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help children to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills to prepare the chid to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult.

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Requirement Due date

that the care is delivered by a person who—

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Requirement Due date

has experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(v)(vi) (3)(b)(c)(ii)) 26 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 8 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff receive training to meet the needs of the children and the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that safe recruitment practices are followed in the home. 26 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for monitoring and 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; and

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)) 26 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 9 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

There is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 26 September 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff complete records in a way that is helpful to children and write in a non-stigmatising way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature and help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them, and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that children live in a warm and welcoming environment that has a homely feel, and that children are helped to maintain their bedrooms to a high standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2680502 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Social Care Services Group, 31 Shaw Road, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Inspector

Michelle Snape, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2680502 11 and 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 children look after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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