Children's Home run by Trusted Care Services Group Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 1 Registered provider: Trusted Care Services Group 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

This home is owned and managed by a private company. It is registered to provide care for one child with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. The inspector spoke to them about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home currently does not have a registered manager. An interim manager is in post, who has started the process to register with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 29 October 2024

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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: 2751230 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 3

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improvement to be good

The child said that they feel happy living in the home. Staff have made efforts to ensure that the home feels welcoming. The child enjoys spending time with staff and efforts have been made recently to allow the child to spend time in the community independently. However, shortfalls in oversight by leaders and managers mean that at times the child has experienced inconsistent care.

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improvement to be good

Staff have been proactive in promoting educational outcomes for the child. The child previously experienced a significant gap in their education and is now consistently engaged in learning. This positive re-engagement reflects the ability of the staff in supporting the child in securing and sustaining a suitable educational placement.

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improvement to be good

Staff engage in sessions on various topics that are effective in supporting the child to understand their behaviours and the impact these have. Through consistent engagement, staff are guiding the child to explore alternative strategies and interpersonal skills. The child’s wider family have commented on the positive difference in the child’s behaviour from when they first came to live in the home.

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improvement to be good

The child’s health needs are being met and they are registered with all local health services. Staff also talk to the child about their health and well-being on a regular basis and have helped them to understand issues around the use of e-cigarettes.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. This helps the child stay connected and keep a strong sense of identity. Family members have commented that the quality of family time has significantly improved, and they can see the difference in a positive manner.

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improvement to be good

The child says that they feel safe living in the home. They have been supported to develop positive relationships with core staff. Through these relationships, the child is able to talk about sensitive topics and is developing a strong sense of self-awareness.

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improvement to be good

Managers have not followed safer recruitment practices when employing staff. They have failed to wait for references before allowing staff to start work. This may place the child at increased risk. This was a requirement at the last full inspection and has not been robustly addressed. Some changes have been implemented; however, recruitment processes are not robust. Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 4 Behaviour management records are not always clear when the child has had to be held to keep them safe. The conversations after the incident do not detail who has spoken to the child. These shortfalls reduce management oversight of practice in the home.

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improvement to be good

The child’s risk management plans are clear and provide staff with clear guidance to follow. Plans have been written with the child in mind and allow staff to understand the helpful strategies to use. However, plans have not been reviewed in line with the provider’s own expectations. This does not ensure that they include the most up-to date information about the child’s risks.

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improvement to be good

Not all staff are trained in the provider’s physical intervention technique, which may place the child and others at increased risk of harm if intervention was required.

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

The management of the home has been inconsistent. The current manager is the fourth manager to manage the home since registration. One previous manager withdrew her application to register in December 2024 and another manager failed to register within timescales. The manager has not submitted a full application to register with Ofsted.

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

Oversight by leaders and managers is not robust. Shortfalls in training for some staff have not been addressed. The register of children living in the home had to be rewritten during the inspection and the home’s workforce plan is not in line with regulation. The manager has a plan to address these shortfalls but has not yet taken the necessary steps.

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

The staff rota does not provide an accurate view of who is working in the home. This is not in line with regulation and means that any safeguarding concerns will lack accountability.

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

Staff say they feel supported. They benefit from supervision sessions that provide opportunities for staff to reflect on the work they are doing with the child. These sessions are supported by professional development conversations that enable staff to continue to learn about their role. Appraisals have taken place and capture the views of the child in relation to the care they receive.

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

Since the last inspection, recording practices in the home have improved and records provide clear and meaningful evidence of the child’s progress. Records demonstrate the positive impact of interventions and the child’s journey. The development of the monthly report for the local authority social worker has been a positive step and this is written from the child’s viewpoint.

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

The child’s local authority social worker is happy that the child is making progress. There are various ways in which the staff have captured views of the child, their family members and other professionals. However, the manager did not understand that the regulator sends out point-in-time surveys to enable further views to be captured. This is Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 5 something that the provider is taking action to address to ensure that they are able to use feedback to develop practice in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 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 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, 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 that the individual is to perform;

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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

In particular, the registered person must ensure that employment checks are carried out in a thorough manner. 18 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider— 18 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 7 is an organisation or a partnership;

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they apply to register with the regulator within the required timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the staff rota is reflective of the people working in the home. 18 September 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all their staff have been adequately trained in the principles of restraint and any restraint techniques appropriate to the needs of the children the home is set up to care for as defined in the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.57)  The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 8 child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint

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Recommendations

(regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce- related requirements of regulation 16. This plan should detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction and how to manage poor performance. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 2751230 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Trusted Care Services Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 3, 2 The Colony Buildings, Altrincham Road, Wilmslow SK9 4LY

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Inspector

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2751230 10 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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Inspector

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