Axion Social Care Limited

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 1 Axion Social Care Limited Registered provider: Axion Social Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

A private provider operates this supported accommodation service. The service can accommodate up to six children in two shared- or group-living homes that are limited to accommodating looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, the service provided supported accommodation for five children aged 16 and 17 years.

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provider

The service manager, who is also the nominated individual, registered with Ofsted in October 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 2 June 2025 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 4 to 5 June 2025.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements.

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Summary of findings

Some children are positive about their progress and experiences of the service. However, some children are not in education, training or employment.

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Summary of findings

Most staff understand children’s needs well, but not all staff have the necessary skills and experience to support children.

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Summary of findings

Some children’s living environments are maintained to a good standard.

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Summary of findings

Overall, children speak positively about their accommodation. However, some aspects of management oversight of the premises require improvement. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children make progress because of the support that they receive from the committed staff team. Most staff build meaningful relationships with children and have a good understanding of their difficulties and vulnerabilities. This helps staff to identify when children need specific or bespoke support. One child said, ‘Staff would always have your back; they always listen to your rants and always try and make you laugh. They keep in touch now even though I’m not living there anymore. They are amazing people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff work with the children to identify their support needs and to tailor their one-to- one sessions to help children develop the skills that they need to live independently. However, children’s records are not always up to date and do not consistently capture their progress. For example, staff do not ensure that children’s support and independence plans include all relevant information about the children’s experiences and goals. This oversight has the potential to hinder the sharing of information and misrepresent children’s progress towards independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children travelling from overseas do not always understand the day-to-day routines in the provision because the children’s guide is only available in English. When children speak English as an additional language, staff do not work with them effectively to ensure that they understand the content of this document. This does not help children to settle into their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The accommodation offered is comfortable and decorated to a good standard. However, staff practice does not always ensure that environments are nurturing and homely. For example, staff use a blanket approach to the use of and locking cleaning products, irons and knives away from children. This is not proportionate to any potential or identified risks to children. This does not create a supportive environment to prepare children to live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The service’s statement of purpose has not been updated to accurately reflect the service delivery and staff structure. In addition, the therapeutic support for children is not outlined in the statement of purpose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Overall, children’s progress in education, training and employment opportunities is good. Some children have made measurable and meaningful progress in their education. Staff support children to access employment or training opportunities. This supports children’s development towards their future independence. However, not all children are in education, employment and training, and this is detrimental to their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children to maintain meaningful relationships with family members and those who are important to them. They understand how these relationships support the children’s sense of belonging and promote their emotional well-being as they move towards adulthood and greater independence. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 3 Generally, children’s placements are well planned. When making decisions, the registered service manager consults with children and considers the needs of children moving in, along with the needs of children already living in the accommodation. These arrangements support children’s stability in their accommodation, and this helps them to develop their social skills in preparation for independence.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff collaborate with a range of agencies and explore patterns in children’s behaviour that may place them at risk of harm as they become more independent. Staff also examine their own practice to understand what else they can do to better support children. Although this approach helps to inform children’s individual plans, their risk assessments do not always reflect these known or emerging risks, and they do not consider the impact these may have on children’s progress to independence.

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How well children are helped and protected

The service manager ensures that staff complete training to help them support children effectively and to improve their knowledge. However, most staff have not completed specific courses around the trauma-informed approach to supporting children that is offered by the service. This means that most staff are not equipped with the skills and knowledge that they need to consistently promote children’s safety and well-being in line with the statement of purpose.

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How well children are helped and protected

Overall, recruitment practice is thorough and ensures that staff are suitable and safe to work with children. However, on one occasion, the registered person did not obtain all the relevant information in line with their procedure.

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How well children are helped and protected

Most children said that they feel safe, that staff support them well and that this helps them to become more independent. Staff understand the importance of building trusting relationships with children so when they have any concerns, they can speak to staff about these and get the support they need.

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How well children are helped and protected

The service manager has prepared missing-from-care protocols in case children go missing from the service. These protocols recognise that as children move towards adulthood, they learn to take greater responsibility for their actions and decisions. When one child went missing, staff implemented these protocols to escalate their concerns to the local authority and the police within the required time frame. This helped in locating the child and reducing the risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The service manager has not yet embedded successful monitoring and review systems to scrutinise service delivery and identify areas for improvement effectively. Although the service manager is developing monitoring systems, these do not yet help her to successfully evaluate children’s experiences to ensure that this reflects the statement of purpose. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 4 Staff said that the service manager supports them in their role. They benefit from reflective discussions regarding children’s progress towards independence. However, the service manager does not provide regular supervision for all staff to discuss their practice or identify their learning needs. This means that she is not fully aware of staff’s professional development or the additional skills they need to better support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff are supported to reflect on their practice to ensure that this continues to develop. However, when one child made a complaint, they did not receive feedback on how this would be managed or the outcome of this. This does not assure children that issues they raise are taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The service manager has carried out a quality of care review as required. However, this report does not include important feedback from children, staff or other professionals to shape the development of this supported accommodation service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The service manager is enthusiastic about her work and has a good understanding of supporting children and the scope of the service. However, she recognises that having responsibility of both the role of the service manager and nominated individual is becoming unmanageable and does not support the development of the service. She is taking steps to recruit a new service manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Some professional feedback is positive about this service. The service manager and staff mostly have positive relationships with professionals. These relationships have helped to ensure that information about children is shared and that children can access additional services that support their independent living skills and their journey to adulthood. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including 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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that a workforce plan (see regulation 10) for the supported accommodation undertaking is in place. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(c)(j)) 29 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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

ensure that the location of the premises used as supported accommodation is suitable for the category or categories of supported accommodation provided, by—

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Requirement Due date

offer a comfortable, positive and nurturing environment, while respecting children’s need for privacy;

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Requirement Due date

with sufficient space to accommodate a reasonable number of personal possessions, 29 August 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 6 provide children with a written agreement, in an accessible format, which outlines their rights, the terms and conditions of the supported accommodation and how they can raise concerns about the provision of supported accommodation. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(a)(vii)(i)(f))

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Requirement Due date

before a child arrives or upon a child’s arrival, ensure that the child is given a written guide, in an accessible format, containing information about—

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Requirement Due date

what services and facilities are available that take account of children’s needs arising as a result of cultural differences or disability. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(c)(j)(iv)) 29 October 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of support provided by the service and the experiences of children living in each of the provider’s settings, looking at the impact the support is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 62)  The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under regular review to ensure it remains child focused and indicates how the service provides individualised support that meets the Quality Standards and improves outcomes for the children it accommodates. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 46) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 7

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Axion Social Care Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Regus Business Centre, Salop Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV3 0SR

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Perthidia Luwaca

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: admin@axionsocialcareservices.com

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Inspectors

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Clare Hannah, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Axion Social Care Limited 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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