Children's home run by North East Lincolnshire Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 1 SC394101 Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire 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

The home is managed and run by the local authority. It provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were seen and two children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/08/2024 Full Good 07/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build trusting relationships with children and are committed to providing stability and care. If children want to make a complaint, they can speak to staff or make a complaint anonymously. A written complaint form is available in the home, or children can use the contact details found in the children’s guide.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s voice is heard. Children share their views and contribute to participating in their own plans and decision-making. Children are supported through an advocate if necessary to further support their wishes being shared. This means children feel valued and part of their own plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s lives and experiences are captured in memory scrapbooks. This is a reminder of what they have achieved while living in the home. Children can take the memory scrapbooks with them when they move to new places. Staff ensure that these scrapbooks include photos. They are finished in a way that reflects the child’s personality. The memory scrapbooks capture memories that are pleasant to look back on for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in their learning in a format that is appropriate for them. Children believe they can achieve their aspirations and are supported to access college places to progress in their future career paths. Staff advocate for children and have built positive relationships with education professionals. Staff support children to overcome barriers to their learning to achieve in line with their expectations. One child who could not attend a school setting has been supported to continue their learning in an alternative setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. They are supported in accessing local health services. Staff promote healthy lifestyles and encourage children to make positive choices about their physical and emotional well-being. Additional oversight from a clinician informs care planning and delivery, ensuring that children receive support that meets their individual health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with independence plans. Staff provide an independence programme, which is tailored to each child’s needs, age and ability. This is not captured in independence recording. Children have no formal record of what they have achieved to look back on. This is a missed opportunity for staff to consider any future development opportunities.

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

Risks to children are understood by staff. Risks are reviewed regularly and provide guidance on how staff should respond to specific risks and behaviours. This supports staff to take appropriate action to reduce risk and prevent harm. Risk is well understood Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 4 and managed through detailed planning and responsive interventions. For one child, this has led to a notable reduction in the frequency and severity of harm. However, the presentation of some risk assessments and the ratings has led to confusion for staff. This has not been identified through monitoring by the manager.

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

When a child goes missing, staff follow the child’s care plans and take action to reduce risk. Staff challenge other agencies when necessary to ensure that children are safeguarded. Return home interviews after an episode of going missing are completed, and the information gathered is used to inform future planning and reduce the likelihood of further incidents of the child going missing. However, missing-from-home records do not consistently reflect the actions taken by staff or demonstrate that staff are following the agreed care plans.

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

The home provides a warm and welcoming environment for children. When damage has occurred, it has been addressed promptly to ensure that the home remains a safe and positive space. This helps children to feel secure and valued in their living environment.

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

Fire safety measures are in place. Each child has a personal emergency evacuation plan, which supports their ability to exit the home safely in the event of a fire. However, the main exit route is locked during the evening, which children cannot access independently. This causes delay and increases risk if staff are unable to assist in an emergency evacuation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager are passionate about the care the children. receive. Staff speak highly of their managers and feel valued and supported. Staff are supportive of each other and have developed resilience within the team. The staff attribute their resilience to having a strong management team. Managers are described as visible, approachable and always available.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers learn from feedback to develop the offer of care. The manager has implemented a new reflective tool to track children’s progress and achievements to promote learning. This is a live document with active reviews. The manager has plans to embed this document to promote the approach and further develop the care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that safeguarding concerns or allegations are notified. However, one incident included an allegation made by a child that was not notified. This prevented any oversight or review from the regulator.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision with suitably qualified people. Supervision is not always focused on children’s experiences and lacks the opportunity for reflection, which is a missed opportunity for further learning and development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 5 The manager has a monitoring and review tool to evaluate the quality of care. However, this does not include robust quality assurance processes to ensure that key documents meet expected standards. The manager has a clear and ambitious vision to strengthen the review tool, making it more meaningful and accountable to develop practice and improve outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b)(d)) 1 September 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

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

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 7 home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 63, paragraph 14:10)

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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: SC394101 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North East Lincolnshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Municipal Offices Town Hall Square, Grimsby, South Humberside DN31 1HU

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Inspector

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC394101 9 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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