Children's home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 1 SC488679 Registered provider: Leeds City Council

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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 run by a local authority. The home provides care for four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. Two children were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted July 2025.

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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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/04/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/06/2023 Full Good 13/03/2023 Full Inadequate 16/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in activities with staff in and outside of the home, which helps them to build trusting and positive relationships. Children also benefit from regular involvement in community-based activities such as, horse riding and visiting youth clubs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to explore and develop their hobbies and interests. For example, staff have helped one child to design a website. Staff supported one child to design a website which gave the child a sense of pride in what they achieved. The child spoke passionately about this, and keenly explained the website’s purpose and function.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children spoken with at the inspection said that they like living in the home. One child said, ‘Things here have got a lot better now.’ Both children said that they like the staff and that they can speak to them if they need support or help with anything.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s incentive charts provide a clear and effective visual aid that helps them to understand and recognise their achievements. Staff record the reasons for any deductions, which supports transparency and helps children to understand the process. The format is effective. Furthermore, when deductions are made, staff carry out direct sessions with the child, allowing them to express their views and ensuring that they fully understand the reasons behind any decisions made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager takes appropriate, and timely action when children face barriers to learning. She works effectively with other professionals to ensure that their educational needs are met. For one child, this has resulted in a change of school that is better suited to meeting their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to attend their routine health appointments. Children are all generally fit and healthy. To encourage children’s understanding around health knowledge, staff speak with them about the dangers of substance misuse, and other specific health conditions.

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

Risk assessments in place are individual to each child. They include detailed actions and responses for staff when they are faced with challenging situations. The risk assessments include running logs of children’s actions. This helps staff to monitor behaviours, which helps them to identify whether risks are reducing, or increasing in frequency, and from there an appropriate response is taken.

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

When children go missing, staff follow plans in place to ensure that children are located as quickly and safely as possible. When they return, children are welcomed back by staff, and an independent person is brought in to speak with the child. This approach Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 4 reinforces to the children that the adults around them are concerned for their safety and well-being.

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

There have been serious incidents in the home that required police involvement to help manage children’s behaviour. In response, the manager has reviewed and improved staff practice in managing challenging situations. Staff have been supported to develop their skills in de-escalating situations and now respond more effectively using verbal redirection, in line with children’s risk management plans. As a result, incidents in the home have reduced, and the use of police intervention has declined.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used in the home. When holds are used, they are appropriate and proportionate. Records are in line with regulations and give an accurate account of the antecedents, the hold and how it was followed up.

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

There have been incidents of bullying in the home. Staff speak with children about bullying behaviours and their impact on others. However, these conversations have not been effective in stopping the bullying, and one child has expressed that at times they do not like living in the home. There has been a lack of creative strategies to address the bullying, with staff primarily relying on discussions and on-the-spot challenges.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked hard to develop the home since the previous manager left. She has put in place clear boundaries for staff to follow, to provide children with routine and structure in their daily lives. This has taken time, and the transition was not without challenges, including serious incidents and staff injuries. However, staff have remained consistent in their approaches and have followed the manager’s guidance. Now, children are living in a less chaotic environment and have routine and boundaries in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision sessions are frequent and reflective of the children’s needs and of staff practice. Staff use these sessions to their advantage as they discuss their training needs. It is also a safe space for staff to discuss any practice issues within the team. This shows that staff are comfortable in sharing open and honest discussions with management. Staff spoken with said that they have regular supervision and that they feel supported by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

To enhance staff skills and development, all staff are up to date with the provider’s mandatory training. Staff also receive child-specific training, on topics such as substance misuse. Staff say this training reinforces and underpins their knowledge and skills to support them in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has identified gaps in staff completing their qualification in timescales. Appropriate action has been taken to ensure that this matter has been dealt with by the local authority. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 5 The manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home and takes necessary action when issues arise. There is an action plan in place to move the home forward, and all of the requirements that was issued at the monitoring visit have been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s views are actively sought and listened to through a variety of methods. Children contribute their opinions during house meetings and have access to an independent advocate, which some children have used. Staff support this process by helping children make the initial contact with the advocacy service. From that point onwards, children are encouraged and supported to maintain contact independently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home requires five full-time members of staff to meet children’s needs. To promote consistency for children, the manager regularly uses the same two agency staff. Staff from the sister home also provide support, and permanent staff from the home cover additional gaps in the rota to maintain continuity of care. A recruitment drive is ongoing. Two candidates have been successful and are currently progressing through the safer recruitment process. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 6

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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 communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(xii)(xiii)(b)) 25 August 2025

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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: SC488679 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Merrion House, Merion Centre, Leeds LS2 8LX

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Inspector

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC488679 8 and inspects 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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