Children's Home run by West Cumbria Care and Support in Cumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 1247670 1 Registered provider: West Cumbria Care and Support Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a charitable organisation and provides care under short-break arrangements for up to four children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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

Date of last inspection: 3 February 2025

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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: 1247670 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2025 Full Good 20/03/2024 Full Good 25/01/2023 Full Good 10/10/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 1247670 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s needs well. They recognise how children prefer to communicate, which helps strengthen their day-to-day experiences and supports them in making good progress. Many children have been accessing the service for several years, which allows staff to establish trusting relationships with them and their families. Staff are helping one child who visits the home to make good progress with their personal care, and they are helping another child to develop their language skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager plans children’s transitions into the home well. Children are invited to look around the home with their family members before staying for tea and eventually staying overnight. Where possible, the manager arranges for children to stay with friends from school. This offers children the opportunity to participate in sleepovers that they otherwise would not experience. The manager also arranges for one child to stay in the home alone when this best meets their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to participate in activities such as bowling and going to the theatre. This provides children with experiences that they would otherwise be unable to access. Memories of these events are captured in photos that are displayed on the walls of the home and an online platform that children and members of their family can access.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide good support to children as they approach adulthood. Staff and the manager liaise effectively with professionals to help children with a smooth transition to adult services, including children who are moving into an alternative care provision. Staff continue to support these children until they are settled. This helps children feel valued by the staff who care for them.

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

The children have complex health needs related to their disabilities. Staff who are new to the service learn how to administer specialist care to children under the supervision of a medical professional. Longer-serving staff receive regular refresher training. This helps to ensure that staff have the most up-to-date knowledge to provide safe care.

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

Staff and the manager support children well when they make allegations against adults. Throughout any investigations, staff listen to, believe, and support children well. The manager uses social stories to help children understand the outcomes of any investigations. This helps children feel valued and safe.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s vulnerabilities and the associated risks. Staff and the manager respond well to new and emerging risks, for example, by revising children’s care plans and providing staff with protective equipment. However, not all documents that help staff understand children’s needs reflect all known risks for children, Inspection report for children’s home: 1247670 4 and some contain outdated or irrelevant information. This does not affect the quality of care provided to the children.

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

The manager exercises a safer recruitment process. This helps to ensure that children are cared for by adults who can provide safe and effective care.

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

Staff rarely use physical interventions with children. When they do, they are often guides. However, staff do not always have the opportunity to reflect on physical interventions with a senior staff member. This prevents staff from feeling consistently supported and prevents the manager from identifying any patterns or trends. Children are rarely spoken to after they have been involved in a physical intervention. This prevents children from understanding the reasons for interventions.

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

Staff and the manager do not record consequences. This prevents the manager from ensuring that consequences implemented by staff are proportionate and appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to providing good-quality care to the children. She is ambitious for them and expects high standards of care from the staff. She is supported by two deputies, who are equally enthusiastic. The manager knows and understands the children’s needs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager takes decisive and effective action when there are delays in effective planning by other agencies. For example, she refused to provide care for one child until she received the necessary paperwork. This ensures that staff have all the relevant information they need to provide the standard of care required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff absences are affecting the staff team. Staff work overtime, and managers and leaders work shifts to ensure that children receive safe and effective care. The manager is recruiting staff to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision sessions do not always take place in line with the organisation’s policy. This prevents staff from being able to reflect on their practice and results in them not feeling consistently well supported. Records of supervision sessions do not always capture the full discussions held. This prevents staff and those providing supervision from being held to account.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager does not inform Ofsted of significant events within the required time frames and does not provide updates on the outcomes of investigations. This prevents the regulator from being assured that the manager and staff are providing safe care to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247670 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 registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 15 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1247670 6 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are supported in understanding the reasons for any physical interventions and that all staff are spoken to when they have been involved in any incidents. Furthermore, in line with Regulation 35, the registered person must ensure that all consequences are recorded.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that supervision sessions take place in line with the provider’s policy, are reflective in nature, adhere to the standards expected by the provider, and are accurately recorded. 15 October 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious incidents are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate parties. Notifications must include details of the actions taken by the home’s staff in response to the incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1247670 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: West Cumbria Care and Support

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 26 Stanley Street, Workington CA14 2JD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Catherine Parker

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Inspector

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1247670 8 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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