Children's Home run by Active Ark Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 1 Registered provider: Active Ark Limited 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 organisation. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 22 January 2019.

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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 widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 6 November 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/11/2024 Full Good 25/09/2023 Full Good 13/12/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are significant concerns in relation to the leadership and management of the home that are affecting the staff team’s ability to safeguard and protect the children effectively. Serious incidents have not been managed appropriately, leaving children at risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Care plans are reviewed but are not always updated in response to incidents and events that occur in children’s lives. This leaves staff without clear strategies for managing challenging behaviour and situations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Key-work sessions are carried out monthly. Sessions consider how children feel about living at the home and their choices in relation to activities and food. Weekly meetings should take place with each child. These are inconsistently carried out across the group of children, resulting in an unequal opportunity for children to express their thoughts and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are settled and are making progress in their daily lives due to the supportive relationships they have with the staff team. They attend school and college and are doing well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One local authority recently planned for two of the children to move into foster care. The registered manager and staff team advocated on behalf of the children, who were clear that they did not wish to move from the home. This situation has since been addressed, and the children have remained living at the home, which is believed to be in their best interests. This helps children feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Feedback from professionals and families is positive. One professional commented, ‘The recent work of advocacy on behalf of the boys who wanted to stay at the home was a good piece of work, and I am glad that things worked out for them.’

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

When significant incidents occur, staff do not always recognise the risks for children and fail to take appropriate action to reduce them. Staff do not follow safeguarding procedures, such as filling out the necessary documentation, informing leaders and managers, contacting placing local authorities and notifying Ofsted. This leaves children at risk.

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

While there are some positive interactions between children and staff, staff have not responded appropriately to reduce the risks to children when a potential risk of harm is identified. On one occasion, children have shared information about events that indicate potential harm to other children. Despite it being recorded that this should be followed up, there is no evidence of this happening, leaving a child at risk. Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 4 There are inconsistencies about where and what information is recorded, with different records containing conflicting information about the same incident. Some records minimise safeguarding concerns and serious incidents that have taken place.

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

Risk assessments are regularly reviewed by the registered manager, but not all known information is added, which means that the records do not contain an accurate evaluation of the risks posed to the children. The strategies to help staff mitigate risks and safeguard children are not specific, and they are not updated in response to incidents that occur. This leaves children at risk.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home, but when they have, they have found themselves in complex situations involving misuse of alcohol, and on one occasion, an allegation of sexual assault being made against them. Staff respond to help and support children to manage the situations, but the seriousness of some events has not been recognised by staff. This means that there is the potential for such situations to arise again, leaving children at risk.

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

Children say they feel safe in the home and can identify staff who they would go to if they needed help.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management of the home are ineffective. The registered manager carries out monthly monitoring. However, some of the monitoring carried out is superficial, a tick-box approach with little impact, and where other monitoring is carried out, it is not thorough, as it does not result in staff taking action to improve the quality of care provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual led this inspection, as the registered manager was not present. The registered manager is either absent or only visits the home for brief periods. A recommendation from the last inspection, which stated that the registered manager should sign into the daily log to document his presence, has not been fulfilled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is experienced and is supported by a consistent staff team. The team attends staff meetings and receives regular supervision. However, the records do not contain any reflective practice, and there is a lack of action planning. This means that there is a lack of support to improve the quality of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is supervised by the director of the organisation due to his conflict of interest with the registered individual. Records indicate that supervision sessions take place regularly, but they are ineffective in supporting or challenging the registered manager in his role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Several serious incidents have not been reported to Ofsted. This prevents Ofsted from ensuring that all the necessary steps are taken to safeguard children. This was raised Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 5 with the registered manager at the previous inspection, and a requirement was raised. This has not been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Legally required documentation from the local authority was found to be out of date and had to be requested by the inspector during the inspection. This had been raised by the registered manager with social workers but not escalated to senior managers in the local authorities to ensure that the most up-to-date information for the children is available to staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager has completed his quality of care review report and submitted it to Ofsted. The report lacks evaluation, and the actions do not include specific timescales and often relate to the current situation rather than being of a developmental nature.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The independent visitor has not raised these shortfalls in reports, preventing the organisation from making the necessary improvements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 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

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f)(h)) 7 September 2025

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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; 7 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 7 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the registered manager is appropriately supervised and appraised. 7 September 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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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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

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry) or;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation— must include details of— 17 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 8 the matter;

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

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.

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c)) 30 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b)) 7 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 9 In particular, ensure that the independent visitor identifies shortfalls to help the registered manager and staff safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is an evaluation of the data and information and that action plans include timescales for service developments. 30 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to compliance notices.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 21, paragraph 4.11)

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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: 2506856 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit E, Baron Way, Kingmoor Business Park, Carlisle CA6 4SJ

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Inspector

Susan Atkinson Millmoor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 11 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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