Children's Home run by Next Generation Care Essex Ltd in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 1 Registered provider: Next Generation Care Essex 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 by a small, private organisation and can care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties. No children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2024.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 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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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A full inspection on 7 and 8 April 2025 resulted in the home being judged inadequate. Following the inspection, Ofsted served two compliance notices in respect of the leadership and management of the home and how well children were helped and protected. A monitoring visit took place on 4 June 2025. At that visit, Ofsted determined that the provider had made sufficient progress to meet the steps set out in the compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/04/2025 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, there were no children were living at the home. Children have not lived at the home since April 2025. Therefore, although some improvements have been made, these have yet to be tested in practice and any impact is primarily theoretical. Consequently, some of the previous requirements have been restated as it was not possible to test them sufficiently in the absence of children.

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improvement to be good

The home is welcoming, with fresh decoration and new furniture. Bedrooms have been thoughtfully decorated, with welcome packs for children.

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improvement to be good

A sensory room is in place. This has the potential to provide a calm environment for children to enjoy. Staff have made sure a range of resources and equipment are available in the home. These resources have the potential to help meet children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Managers have created a bespoke package for educating children who move in without an allocated educational provision or are not in receipt of tutoring. This includes pieces of work based on the child’s individual interests as well as important life skills.

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improvement to be good

Managers have taken action to increase the potential for care planning to be effective. The welcome guide has been updated to enable children to take a virtual tour of the home before moving in.

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improvement to be good

The manager has revised safeguarding policies and shared these with the staff. New prompt cards provide staff with guidance and information in relation to keeping children safe. This helps staff to understand what is expected of them.

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improvement to be good

The home has become safer since the last inspection. Managers and staff have ensured that action has been taken to address maintenance issues. They have carried out regular checks and audits on equipment. The manager has completed action plans to help ensure compliance with the fire risk assessment action plan and matters relating to health and safety.

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improvement to be good

The manager has provided staff with further safeguarding training. The staff have attended reflective workshops to look at learning from previous experiences. These have helped staff to feel more confident in their capacity to support children with complex needs and behaviours.

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improvement to be good

The manager has devised a process to ensure that placing authorities provide more information about children who move in. This should help the manager to better Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 4 understand children and make a more informed decision on whether their needs can be met.

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

The home is managed by a registered manager. She has been in post since the home itself was registered and is appropriately qualified.

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

The staff team benefits from regular supervision sessions. Managers use this time to help staff to reflect on previous experiences and take opportunities for learning.

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

Staff benefit from regular team meetings. Managers make sure these take place despite no children living at the home. The staff have used this time to discuss plans and ideas with the manager that could improve outcomes for children.

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

The manager has adapted the working rota by using an online system. This has been appreciated by staff, who say they have a healthier work-life balance.

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

Managers have continued to carry out regular audits and monitoring. This has helped ensure that documents are up to date and that issues are addressed quickly.

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

Since the last full inspection no staff have left. Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 5 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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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)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 5 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 6 The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 5 August 2025

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

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets 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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 5 August 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission and how staff should support the child on return to the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature. In particular, they should link to the behaviour and not be punitive in approach. The registered person should ensure consequences are reviewed for their effectiveness. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 7  The registered person should ensure that staff record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-

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Recommendations

party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure, thatwhen children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded, or are not on a school roll for some other reason, that staff support the child to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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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: 2797065 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Next Generation Care Essex Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Newlands End, Laindon, Essex SS15 6DU

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Inspector

Dan Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2797065 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.

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Inspector

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