Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 1 Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd Registered provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd is a private supported accommodation provider. The service and service manager registered with Ofsted on 22 August 2023.

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provider

The provider is registered to provide ring-fenced shared accommodation for up to 34 children and care leavers across nine shared or group-living homes in Northampton.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 24 children aged 16 or 17, across seven premises.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 11 August 2025 and started that day. The inspectors were on site on 13 and 14 August 2025.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be in approximately three years.

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Summary of findings

Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd provides individualised support to children. Children are involved in their support plans and staff are ambitious for them.

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Summary of findings

Staff go above and beyond to support children in their journey towards independence.

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Summary of findings

Managers and staff help children both practically and emotionally, providing a safe environment in which most children thrive.

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Summary of findings

Staff actively help children to engage with education and find employment. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive support and encouragement to achieve their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff use a non-judgemental approach when talking to the children about their support needs and what is important to them. Children actively take part in shaping and contributing to their effective support plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children learn to cook, clean, apply for work and build resilience. Children’s self- confidence increases because they learn how to be independent and how to support others. Staff are knowledgeable about supporting children who are new to living in the UK. They proactively help children to navigate the immigration system and personal or family concerns they may have. Children said staff are ‘always trying to help’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The provider organises trips and football tournaments for the children. Children attend their health appointments. Staff offer practical help and emotional support to ensure they attend. Children feel comfortable to share a range of feelings about significant and complex matters such as personal disappointments or sad news from family living in war-torn countries. One child described how they were able to ‘pour their heart out’ to their named support worker.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children attend college because the staff actively promote this expectation. Staff prompt the children to attend classes and to be on time, until this becomes the child’s routine. Extra support from the staff helps to prepare children for their exams. This enables children to sit their GCSEs. One child said this has ‘turned their life around’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children like where they live but their bedrooms do not have a lockable space to keep their possessions safe. The homes are clean and spacious, but there are noticeboards in communal areas, one premises has a ripped carpet and children are not able to benefit from using some of the gardens because maintenance work is needed. This detracts from the accommodation feeling homely.

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How well children are helped and protected

Managers and staff know the children well and have a good understanding of the children’s individual characters and personalities.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children reach out to the staff for support. Support workers use creative approaches to engage with them and to ensure the children are safe. The staff talk and write about children in a positive, factual and reflective way.

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How well children are helped and protected

Good communication between the staff and other agencies enables prompt intervention when new risks are identified, for example, swiftly arranging counselling and a referral to community mental health services for a child at risk of harming themselves. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 3 Staff understand risk. Good relationships with the children, purposeful staff training and clear procedures for responding to episodes of children going missing reduce the external risks for children. Staff know where children are when they stay out late with friends. The provider follows the expected police protocol for episodes of going missing and ensures that information is up to date and available in children’s files for those at higher risk of going missing.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff complete relevant training and develop their skills and knowledge through completing further qualifications. The staff value and understand the importance of building trusted relationships with children. One member of staff said, ‘It doesn’t matter how much you know until you show how much you care.’

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How well children are helped and protected

Children are involved in their moving-on plans and staff encourage them to express their views about where they want to live next. On the one occasion when the provider gave 28 days’ notice to end a child’s placement, a clear warning system had been implemented. The written notice contained clear and balanced reasons for the decision, written in a respectful and child-friendly way.

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How well children are helped and protected

Some staff recruitment files do not contain all the required police checks from abroad. The process for verifying references lacks professional curiosity, which may impact on the suitability of staff being employed to work with children.

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How well children are helped and protected

The provider did not notify Ofsted when one child was arrested and there were concerns about child exploitation. This limits the regulator’s oversight and ability to monitor the provider.

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How well children are helped and protected

The staff take a blanket approach to some potential risks in the homes. For example, knives are locked away in the office and the kitchen is often closed for use by 10pm, which limits children’s access and detracts from a homely environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager and nominated individual work well together. They share the overview of the service and are in constant communication with staff, who readily approach either of them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers review their service to improve on the quality of the support they and the staff provide. Opportunities for reflective practice offer staff time to think about the psychological issues affecting children and help them to resolve issues by identifying what is actually happening for children. There is low staff turnover. The staff are loyal and committed to supporting the children, without making assumptions about their circumstances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The managers review the use of surveillance to ensure this is not intrusive. They keep documents and policies up to date. Managers organise working lunches to share new practices with staff. This approach has helped children to experience predicable responses from staff. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 4 The provider has a contingency business plan for a variety of events, but it does not address what would happen if the service ceased to operate permanently or temporarily.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The complaints procedure does not address how allegations against managers will be dealt with. The children’s guide does not provide contact details for who to approach should children need to raise an issue when they arrive at their accommodation. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 1. (Regulation 17 (1) (3)(d)) 18 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any 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 or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(f)) 18 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy setting out—

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Requirement Due date

what would happen to the children accommodated by the supported accommodation undertaking, and what measures would be taken to ensure the appropriate transfer of records

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Requirement Due date

in the event that the undertaking ceases, whether permanently or temporarily, to provide supported accommodation, as a result of closure, conditions or 18 October 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 6 restrictions imposed on the registration of the undertaking, or because of a suspension or cancellation of registration. (Regulation 23 (1)(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the homes are adequately maintained, in particular, some of the gardens and the carpets in the home. They should also ensure that children have a lockable space to keep their belongings. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 27 and 30)  The registered person should consider reviewing restrictive practices such as no cooking after 10pm and access to knives. To foster a homely environment, children should be able to access all shared areas of the setting unless there are specific reasons why this would not be the case. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 29)  The registered person should establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children. The procedure must ensure that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation,

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Recommendations

except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate. This applies in particular to complaints against managers. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 61)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd

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Inspectors

Daniela Ferrario, Social Care Inspector Clare Hannah, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Acacia Consultants and Associates Ltd 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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