The London City Care and Support Services Limited

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 1 The London City Care and Support Services Limited Registered provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This service is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers accommodation for up to 25 children and young people in six shared or group living homes that are not limited to accommodating looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, the service was providing accommodation for eight children.

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provider

There is currently no registered service manager in post.

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Inspection dates: 18 to 21 August 2025

The inspection was announced on 18 August 2025 and started that day. The inspector was on site on 20 and 21 August 2025.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements.

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Summary of findings

Positive relationships between children and a consistent staff team ensure that children feel a sense of belonging in the homes.

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Summary of findings

The staff ensure that children’s safety is a priority. Staff are trained to identify risks that could affect children. Where risks to children occur, staff act quickly to help keep them safe.

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Summary of findings

Not all children participate in the development of their support plans, and staff could not demonstrate how they consult children about the individual support they need. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 2 As a result, the support provided is not consistently targeted to help children achieve the goals that are important to them.

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Summary of findings

The post for a registered service manager is currently vacant. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are supported by a stable and dedicated staff team. One staff member expressed that the staff’s strong relationships with the children make their placement feel like ‘a home away from home’. One child discussed the support staff provided when they moved in, showing them shops in the local area, and said that they are helping them apply for colleges.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff promote children’s education and learning. Most children are either in education, training or employment or are preparing to enrol in college when the new term begins. One child is working full time at a salon. Another child has excelled in a construction course, which has positively impacted other areas of their life. Staff provide appropriate support to children who are not in education, employment, or training regarding their next steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff actively support children in learning money management skills. With the children’s agreement, staff help them save money each week, which they receive as a lump sum when they move on to independence. The provider paid one child to construct a wooden bench and a plant feature in the back garden of one of the homes. Children express pride in their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

A diverse team of staff are skilled in promoting children’s individual identities. Staff work effectively with unaccompanied children to help them learn English and achieve social integration while respecting their ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Staff do not actively encourage all children to participate in leisure activities that they find interesting. Children benefit from engagement with extra- curricular activities to increase enjoyment and build socialisation skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive support across many areas of their lives, including personal safety, health, and building life skills. However, not all children participate in the development of their support plans, and there is a lack of consistency in the way staff monitor children’s progress. This approach leads to inconsistency in the overall support provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children do not know their rights at the different stages of their transition to independence. Children are not aware of their Care Leaver Covenant support packages or their rights to have an independent advocate.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children can identify trusted adults they can talk to about concerns. This has a positive impact on their safety and well-being.

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How well children are helped and protected

There is a stable and consistent staff team to support children in each home. Children know the staff members who will be supporting them. On one occasion, when a child moved to another of the provider’s homes for safeguarding reasons, the staff team transferred to the new home to provide stability and a safe base. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 4 There is a clear expectation from managers that staff work closely with other professionals and, where appropriate, children’s parents to safeguard and support children. Children’s written information is updated to note risks and concerns clearly. Staff attend all meetings for children and follow any agreed safeguarding protocols. One professional said, ‘Staff are welcoming and responsive to email/calls, and if support is requested, then they will endeavour to provide this where possible.’ A

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How well children are helped and protected

social worker said that staff actively seek guidance on how to best support children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff participate in mandatory training covering a wide range of specific safeguarding topics, including county lines, child sexual exploitation, radicalisation, child criminal exploitation, online safeguarding and trauma-informed practice. Leaders and managers also commissioned an independent consultant to carry out in-person training with staff on conflict and restorative practices, de-escalation, professional boundaries, attachment, separation and complex trauma and post- traumatic stress.

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How well children are helped and protected

The managers carry out appropriate safer recruitment checks. Leaders and managers ensure that all required checks, including overseas police checks and right-to-work visas, are in place before staff begin working with children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers record safeguarding concerns and share these in a timely manner with the children’s social workers. However, managers have failed to notify the regulator when serious incidents have occurred requiring police involvement. This prevents Ofsted’s oversight of the provider’s response to these situations to protect children from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The managers and leaders have begun to address shortfalls and are in the initial stages of a systemic change in approach to management of the service. The nominated individual has a more active role in the service following the resignation of two registered service managers. A new service manager has been appointed and will begin work in September 2025. The nominated individual works closely with professionals and other stakeholders to ensure that the service is operating in line with legislation and is supporting children towards independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff speak highly of the support, compassion and vision of the nominated individual. Many staff have worked with the provider since registration. One staff member said, ‘Staff are given space to develop their skills so that they can perform better, and because staff well-being is valued, they often perform very well.’ Another staff member said that the nominated individual treats them like family, and they work as a team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Each weekday morning, managers meet to discuss the status of each home and decide which manager will be providing additional support to staff and children. This means managers are visiting all homes on at least a weekly basis, ensuring that Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 5 staff and children know the leaders and managers well. This allows for an open and cohesive service and ensures that children can escalate concerns if needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are aware of the shortfalls, and they are taking action to address the issues identified during this inspection. The managers have introduced a new system for reviewing referrals as well as a staff supervision tracker. The implementation of these changes is in the initial stages. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 6

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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 support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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

ensure that plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that every child’s support plan is written and reviewed in consultation with the relevant child. 30 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 an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); 29 August 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 7 there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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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)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should, where appropriate, ensure that staff encourage and assist children and young people in participating in a wide range of activities, inside and outside the setting, such as educational trips, volunteering and leisure activities. Staff should help children and young people understand the local leisure, community, linguistic, cultural and religious services available to them, assist them in accessing relevant leisure passes and encourage participation in community activities and those in the wider area when appropriate. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 40)  The registered person should ensure that staff provide information to children and young people on any specific local offers directed at opportunity access and inclusion for looked-after children and care leavers, such as Care Leaver Covenant support packages. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations,

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Recommendations

including Quality Standards’, page 41)  The registered person should ensure that staff regularly remind children and young people of their right to access an independent advocate and support them in doing so. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 42)

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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: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: info@londoncitycare.co.uk

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Inspector

Julie Cresswell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: The London City Care and Support Services Limited 9 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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