Children's home run by South Tyneside Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 1 Registered provider: South Tyneside Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a local authority. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. One child was spoken with during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 21 January 2025

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are not protected from the risk of significant harm. In addition, children’s welfare is not promoted consistently by staff, impacting on the progress that they make. Although one child has made some progress with their learning and with spending constructive time with staff, this was short-lived. This is because the risks for this child significantly increased and have not been managed well by staff. Professionals spoken with during the inspection struggled to identify any other progress for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are long-standing issues of children bringing illegal substances into the home. Staff have not taken effective action to prevent children from doing so. This has created a culture of acceptance, where drug misuse has been enabled. As a result, children continue to misuse substances when they want, impacting on their safety and well- being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s health is not supported well enough because of the concerns relating to substance misuse. Children share information with staff about their use, but staff’s response is lacking. During one incident, when children said that they had taken drugs, one child became unwell. No medical advice was sought. This leaves children at risk of significant harm by misadventure. There may also be a negative impact on their long- term health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children who live in the home have complex and, at times, competing needs. Staff have given children some stability in living together for a short period, but their ability to help children live together safely has progressively decreased over time. The escalating concerns about the children’s relationship and risks to one another have not been acted on in a timely way. This is leaving children at risk of significant harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have positive relationships with staff. They speak to staff about what is happening for them in the community, keeping staff informed about their worries. Parents and professionals comment positively on staff’s relationships with children. However, the impact of this on children’s progress and safety is limited because of the lack of effective action staff take in response to some of these concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have done some work in the home with a tutor, assisting their learning for short periods. In addition, one child aspires to enrol in some kind of vocational course, to help learn a skill for their future. Staff are helping them with this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff encourage children to have some positive and enjoyable experiences. They engage them in activities that capture their attention, such as building bikes. Staff also encourage children to take part in the upkeep of the home, including cutting the grass in the garden. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 4

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

Managers and staff do not take sufficient and effective action to protect children from child criminal exploitation (CCE). The risks to children are significant and increasing. There is a lack of professional curiosity about the significant sums of money one child is receiving through part-time work and managers are unable to provide reassurances about this. In addition, unwanted behaviour towards others in the community is of concern. A plan to disrupt this type of behaviour is not being implemented effectively by staff.

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

There is a lack of rules and boundaries in the home, creating an environment where children do what they want at times. This has led to unsafe situations where staff’s actions are not robust enough to keep children and others safe. Any work done with children around these issues is undermined because of the inconsistent approach to care and safeguarding practice.

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

Staff look for children when they go missing from home and escalate their concerns quickly to the police when needed. However, after incidents occur, the children’s plans are not always reviewed to consider any further steps to keep them safe and reduce the risk of such incidents happening again.

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

Children’s risk assessments include conflicting information, making it difficult to know what the actual level of risk is. It is also difficult to know what the current and historical concerns are. Some of the actions that staff should take are not tailored to the individual child. In addition, the guidance to staff is not clear and this does not help staff to know what to do in their efforts to keep children safe.

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

Staff care about the children and want the best for them, despite not always being in a position to do what is best. They know children and understand their personalities, likes and dislikes. This has helped staff to talk to the children when concerns arise, allowing staff to share information with other professionals to keep them updated about what is happening for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are significant gaps in the monitoring and oversight of this home. Senior leaders were not fully aware of the concerns for children or the issues around safeguarding practice. They have not increased their support, advice or guidance to help staff keep children safe. Oversight from managers in the home has also been poor. Although they review incidents, there is a lack of curiosity about these situations, preventing effective action from being taken to increase children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are a lot of professionals involved with the children and there have been several planning meetings. However, children’s risks have not reduced. The management and leadership team have not requested a formal review of one child’s care plan, about who Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 5 they are most concerned. Staff have been open in saying that they cannot keep this child safe and are very worried about them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Escalation about the concerns for children to the local authority is not robust enough. For example, a child has been without a pathway plan for months. There has been some challenge to the child’s lead professional, but the escalation process is not used effectively. Staff do what they think is right in caring for the child. However, there is no specific plan about how to support the child with their transition into adulthood. This may result in the child being unprepared to move on from the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is one staff vacancy in the team. The manager has used the staff team to cover gaps in the rota when possible. Staff from other homes and casual workers also cover when needed. This has provided some consistency for children. However, there was a sudden change when the previous manager left. This was a loss for the children and there was no opportunity for them to say goodbye.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff say they are supportive of each other and felt well supported by the manager prior to them leaving. There are consultations with a psychologist, who offers support and guidance to help the staff in their roles. However, staff feel undervalued and unsupported by senior leaders given the challenges they face. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(b)) 10 August 2025

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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; and

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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 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 10 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 7 *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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(i)) 10 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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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 to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation (5)(c)) 28 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being. (Regulation 10(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iv)) 28 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 8 * These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2718853 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South Tyneside Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Westoe Road, South Shields NE33 2RL

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Inspectors

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Gary Smithson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2718853 10 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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