Children's Home run by IMS Care Ltd in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2819442 1 Registered provider: IMS CARE LTD Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider runs this home. The home provides care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and/or have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose highlights that the staff are trained to apply a specific model of care.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since April 2025. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home, and the child was spoken with.

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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 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 provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2819442 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made good progress in the short time that they have lived at the home. This is due to a consistent approach to care from staff. Fundamentally, the child’s care reflects their age and stage of development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have adapted the home to reflect the needs of the child living there. Additionally, the child’s bedroom is decorated to a high standard. Moreover, photos of the child have been lovingly placed around the home. Cumulatively, these steps have created a home that looks and feels comfortable and personalised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A good dialogue is maintained with the child’s local authority, resulting in an effective working partnership. Therefore, staff have developed a good understanding of the child’s situation and of the local authority’s intervention. Additionally, staff have written the child’s care plan using sensitive but clear language that reflects the child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In one instance, leaders and managers failed to plan a previous child’s move into the home sufficiently. Consequently, this child had an unplanned move shortly afterwards. Reassuringly, leaders and managers reflected on the decisions made in this instance and carried out a thorough review of this child’s experience. In doing so, they have reduced the likelihood of a similar situation happening in the future.

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

Incidents involving children have been rare. However, when required, staff write clear reports that give a good oversight of the incident and the actions taken. This promotes accountability and the opportunity for the staff involved, as well as their colleagues, to reflect and learn whether there are better ways to support children during difficult times.

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

Staff are confident in supporting the child with their personal care needs. Notably, the child is less anxious and more at ease concerning this crucial aspect of their care. Indeed, the child now sees bathing as an opportunity for fun and laughter. This has enabled them to make significant progress in this area of their care.

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

Staff work in collaboration with speech and language therapists. In doing so, staff have implemented strategies to better support the child’s ability to communicate, for example through the effective use of symbols. This has enabled the child to make considerable progress in their ability to communicate with others.

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

The independent person who visits the home highlights their analysis of the child’s care in their written report. An example of this is the need for staff to better understand the child’s emotional state in the context of the child’s situation and age. Positively, staff have applied the independent person’s findings, therefore improving the quality of care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2819442 3 However, unresolved technical issues have meant that the reports written by the independent person have not been received by Ofsted.

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

The home is operating without a manager, and the responsible individual is soon to vacate their role. Leaders are actively recruiting to these significant positions. However, leaders have not used their workforce development plan to recognise or plan how to better use the deputy manager’s experience as a viable interim measure.

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

Staff who cover shifts from other homes in the organisation do not receive a sufficient induction into this home. Of concern, some staff had worked at a home where Ofsted applied its regulatory powers to safeguard children. Although there has been no noted impact on the child, leaders failed to implement satisfactory safeguards that would have promoted positive continuity of care for the child.

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

Although staff say that they find their supervision sessions to be meaningful and frequent, they are not recorded as such. This diminishes accountability and transparency in terms of what the supervisor has raised and discussed with the supervisee.

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

There has been stability across the staff team. Furthermore, team-building days have established cohesion and reinforced learning. Group supervision sessions give further opportunity for staff to volunteer their views on the functioning of the home and the child’s care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2819442 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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; 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)) 1 August 2025

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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; 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)) 1 August 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which shows how the organisation intends to address vacancies associated with the manager and responsible individual roles. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that supervision records provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person successfully sends a copy of their report to HMCI. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2819442 5

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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: 2819442 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Andrew Wright & Co, 10 Cliff Parade, Wakefield WF1 2TA

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Inspectors

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Deirdre Silkstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2819442 7 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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