Children's home run by North Yorkshire Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 1 Registered provider: North Yorkshire 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 owned and managed by a local authority. It provides a short-break service for up to six children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and sensory impairments. The service offers care packages for 17 children. One child receives a shared care arrangement, and three children are living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were staying in the home overnight at the time of the inspection and three children spent time with inspectors.

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Information about this children’s home

The appointed manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 12 and 13 August 2025. The inspector returned on 10 September 2025 to gather additional evidence in line with ‘Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy’.

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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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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 2 An assurance inspection took place on 20 June 2025 to address specific concerns or allegations received by Ofsted. The inspector identified serious but not widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection. As a result of the shortfalls identified, a case review was held on 24 June 2025 and a decision was made to issue a compliance notice under regulation 12.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A full inspection and monitoring visit took place on 12 and 13 August 2025 and at a subsequent case review it was agreed that the compliance note issued under regulation 12 was met. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2025 Full Good 21/11/2023 Full Good 02/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/11/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care and support offered to children is individualised and reflects the diverse needs of the children. The needs of each child are clearly recorded in their plans, which ensures that staff working with the children understand them. Children who are receiving short breaks and children living in the home have detailed plans. These are developed collaboratively with professionals to ensure that the focus is on the children at the centre.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been recent admissions of children to the home. This has brought change for the staff working in the home and the children. Managers and staff have reflected on the changing needs of the children and supported the team to find new ways of working to minimise risks and work in a trauma-informed way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff working in the home show great care and commitment to the children. They are proud of the children’s achievements. Children respond well to the warmth and nurture that staff provide. Children build trusting relationships because of this and enjoy spending time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are attentive to the complex health needs of children and ensure that they have the most up-to-date information for children whose needs are changing. They work closely with health and education professionals to achieve this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported through their life changes. Children have sometimes moved into the home with little notice. Staff have worked with other agencies to gather essential information and to get the right support and equipment in place for each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to become more independent and sensitively involve children in decisions around their care. They take into consideration each child’s age and understanding when doing this. Children are encouraged to share their views, and staff are strong advocates for them.

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

Managers have reflected on and responded to concerns around the impact of children staying together and how this has affected other children in the home. Managers have provided training to staff around trauma-informed approaches to care in response to this.

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

The manager ensures that there are safety plans in place for children. The manager also seeks specialist advice to support the development and review of children’s individual plans and assessments. Managers are open to support and challenge from partner agencies to strengthen these plans. The plans give staff clear instructions to support the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 5 Staff are supportive, empathetic and calm when dealing with children who are upset. This means that physical intervention is rare. After any incident, staff help children through the use of storyboards to reflect on the incident. Learning from this is shared with staff and added to children’s plans. Management oversight helps to monitor the effectiveness of staff practice.

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

The number of incidents where a child has been at risk from another child in the home has reduced. Staff have helped with this reduction by carefully managing the environment and planning activities to reduce the risks.

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

The manager and staff worked quickly when they identified that a child may be at risk of radicalisation. The staff made appropriate referrals, and the manager sought advice from specialist workers to increase their knowledge and skills. Staff have open discussions with the child so that they understand the risks and learn to keep themselves safer.

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

New therapeutic easy-read plans have been developed for one child, but these are not dated or signed. This makes it harder for staff to know which information is current and relevant.

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

Information management for the recruitment records of newly appointed staff does not consistently enable the provider to demonstrate safe recruitment practice. The responsible individual has a plan to address this, but this has yet to be fully implemented.

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

Managers and staff take appropriate action when they notice injuries on a child. Safeguarding procedures are followed. Incident records are completed and parents and relevant professionals are notified so that there is a coordinated safeguarding response. However, records do not describe how incidents have been concluded after being escalated to a child’s social worker.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The newly appointed manager takes their role seriously and is a persistent advocate for the children in their care. The manager and leaders in the home have a detailed understanding of each child’s needs and their life experiences. The manager also has a clear vision of the quality of care that they want to provide in the home, supporting children to achieve all that they can. Managers and leaders work closely and effectively together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff in the home feel well supported by their managers through regular, reflective supervision and the manager’s open-door policy. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities towards the children and enjoy their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the strengths and areas for development in the home and has made improvements during a busy period. Leaders and managers have taken decisive Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 6 action to ensure that children’s needs are met and support options that consider children’s feelings have been thoughtfully considered and explored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has built positive relationships with professionals involved in the care of the children. The manager updates supporting professionals regularly and contacts them if the children need anything. Staff in the home are persistent when communicating with professionals, particularly if they have not received a timely response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive various training opportunities to support them in meeting all children’s needs, and managers are active in identifying new training needs and seeking this training. Not all staff have completed the required qualification for their role within the timescales, and some staff are still waiting to be enrolled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager listens to children’s views, but these are not clearly captured, or their experiences evaluated, in the quality-of-care report. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 7

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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 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

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been restated. 30 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review they complete gathers feedback from the children and evaluates their experiences living in the home and the impact the care is having on their outcomes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them, including having two written references on file. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that case records for children are signed and dated by the author. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that the system for recording injuries demonstrates how concerns have been concluded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.15)

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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: 1256500 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider : North Yorkshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Racecourse Lane, Northallerton DL7 8AD

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Inspectors

Carol Jagger, Social Care Inspector Nabeel Hussain, Social Care Inspector Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector – second inspection Inspection report for children’s home: 1256500 10 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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