Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 1 SC483856 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare 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 privately owned children’s home provides care for up to five children who may have social 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 registered manager is currently on long-term leave. An experienced manager is providing cover in the registered manager’s absence.

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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 promoted.

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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: SC483856 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/06/2024 Full Good 03/10/2023 Full Good 02/03/2023 Full Good 16/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

During this inspection, the inspector identified serious safeguarding concerns that impact on children’s overall experiences and progress. Staff have been unable to manage children’s risks and behaviours effectively. This has resulted in children not being appropriately safeguarded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, two children have moved into the home and two children have moved out. Managers have planned moves into the home well. However, children moving out of the home do not always have positive endings. On one occasion, a child was reported missing from home, as the move on was poorly planned.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have been unable to have their friends and family members visit the home. This is due to staff not having the experience, skills and confidence to support children who are in crisis. However, staff do support children to visit family members outside the home, in line with their care plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Although the property has sustained significant damage, repairs are acted upon. However, some additional maintenance is still required to address the impact of recent incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the safeguarding concerns identified, children are encouraged to engage in extra-curricular activities. Children are supported with hobbies and interests. However, on occasions children have been prevented from attending activities because of their behaviour. This is not effective and has not supported children’s emotional and behavioural development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Two children attend educational provisions. Children who are not in education are supported to learn at home. This provides children with structure and routine. When there are barriers to children’s learning, these have been explored by staff.

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

Staff do not recognise incidents of bullying between children, and as a result appropriate action has not taken place to address behaviours. Children have not received appropriate reassurance to support them to feel safe.

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

Staff lack the skills and confidence to manage children’s challenging behaviours. This has resulted in numerous calls to the police to provide support with behaviour management. One social worker said: ‘Staff do not know how to deal with trauma or have the experience to manage this for children.’ This places children at risk of criminalisation. Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 4 Staff do not always understand the significance of risks. For example, following a fire- setting incident occurring outside of the property, a room search was not completed. This meant that all actions to prevent further fire-setting incidents were not undertaken.

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

Risk assessments for children are not individualised. They do not identify all risks to children. This means that staff do not have effective strategies to keep children safe and to support them when they are upset. One social worker said: ‘Staff require further training to understand how to de-escalate children’s behaviours.’

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

When safety plans have been implemented to manage peer relationships with children from another of the provider’s homes, staff have not followed these. This has resulted in further incidents and a request for police to manage children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are serious shortfalls in respect of the leadership and management of the home. Leaders and managers have not identified effective action in a timely manner to address shortfalls in staff practice. The registered manager is on long-term leave. However, a recently appointed interim manager is in post. This manager is qualified and experienced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff have the knowledge, skills and understanding to recognise incidents of bullying between peers. An identified plan to address these concerns has not been implemented. For example, bullying training has not been completed within timescales laid out by leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are shortfalls in the tracking and monitoring of bullying incidents in the home, leading to ineffective risk assessments. These assessments have not been regularly updated or reviewed and provide limited guidance to staff on how to manage children’s behaviours safely and appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings take place. However, one team meeting was scheduled to focus on upskilling the staff team. However, this was cancelled and not rearranged. This was a missed opportunity to address the shortfalls with staff and improve the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Ongoing incidents within the home have reportedly contributed to staff sickness absence, resulting in a lack of consistency in the care provided to children. Staff from other homes have been brought in to cover staffing gaps. However, one staff member acknowledged that they are ‘unfamiliar with the children and their needs’, which has hindered their ability to manage children’s behaviour effectively. This lack of continuity does not support children’s progress, experiences or overall safety. Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 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

*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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager ensuring that room searches take place following any serious incidents in the home to ensure that children do not have access to any hazardous items in the home. 1 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 6 This also relates to the registered person ensuring that children are appropriately supervised when in the home and that staff follow plans in respect of other children visiting the home.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to the registered person ensuring that staff have the skills, knowledge and understanding to recognise bullying behaviour in the home. Additionally, this relates to the registered person ensuring that action is taken to safeguard children when such behaviours occur and that support is provided following incidents.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, this relates to the registered person ensuring that staff intervene to de-escalate incidents of challenging behaviour in the home.

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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

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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— 1 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 7 feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that managers and staff have the knowledge, skills and understanding to recognise when children are subjected to bullying from peers in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that there is effective managerial oversight of incidents and of the care being provided to children. This also relates to ensuring that all staff shortfalls are identified and that action is taken to address these.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, this relates to the registered person ensuring that staff have the skills and knowledge to meet children’s needs and that care planning processes are in place to ensure positive moves out of the home.

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

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; 1 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 8 communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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

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that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(ix)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff can identify and understand risks of bullying and how to manage them. This further relates to the registered manager ensuring staff have the skills and confidence to de-escalate children when they are dysregulated.

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The care planning standard is that children—

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

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. 1 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 9 (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)) This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that children moving on from the home experience positive endings.

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Requirement Due date

* 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: SC483856 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor, Parkview, 82 Oxford Road, Uxbridge UB8 1UX

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Inspector

Kitty Wiper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC483856 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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