Lansdowne Secure Unit

Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 1 Lansdowne Secure Unit

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Registered provider: East Sussex County Council Lansdowne Children’s Centre, Hawks Road, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 1NP

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this secure children’s home

This secure children’s home is run by a local authority and is approved by the Secretary of State to restrict children’s liberty. The home can care for up to seven children aged between 10 and 17. There were four children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this secure children’s home

The home provides care for children accommodated under section 25 of the Children Act 1989, who are placed by local authorities. Admission of any child who is under 13 years of age requires the approval of the Secretary of State under section 25 of the Children Act 1989.

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Information about this secure children’s home

The commissioning of health services in this home is the statutory responsibility of NHS England under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Education is provided on site in dedicated facilities.

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Information about this secure children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2024.

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Inspection date: 3 September 2025

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 2 Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 3

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

Children have positive relationships with staff. The inspectors spent time with the children, except for one, who chose not to engage. There was a warm and lively atmosphere, with fun and laughter shared between the children and the staff who care for them.

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Findings from the inspection

Following the last inspection, the registered manager has begun to take action to address most of the shortfalls. While progress has been extensive, many of the actions are still within intended implementation timescales and are not yet fully embedded. The registered manager continues to demonstrate a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and the areas that need further improvement and development. There are plans in place to address these.

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Findings from the inspection

Monitoring of the quality of care in the home has been strengthened. While improvements in how quality assurance processes are evident, given the short timescale in which improvements have been made, a period of embedding good practice is required.

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Findings from the inspection

Supervision sessions do not take place in line with the home’s policy. This lack of support could have an impact on staff’s confidence and skills. It also means that managers may not be aware of staff members’ areas for development. The registered manager is aware of the shortfalls in this area. She has implemented new monitoring systems to ensure that supervision is regular and beneficial to staff. However, this is still being established.

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Findings from the inspection

Physical restraint is used proportionately. Children are asked for their comments about restraints. However, there are no dates recorded for when these conversations took place and so it is unclear whether conversations have taken place within the required timescale. This could mean that children are not having the opportunity to discuss the restraint in a timely manner.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s risk assessments are not always kept up to date. Safety plans are regularly updated, and staff are aware of the content of these. However, the information in the risk assessment does not always match that in the safety plan. This could cause confusion for staff and mean that inconsistent care is provided to children. Some records are not always written in child-friendly ways. There is some ongoing training about using ‘language that cares’, and this is still being embedded at the home.

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Findings from the inspection

Multidisciplinary working and training take place. Weekly core group meetings involving care, health and education take place to discuss each child’s health, well- being and progress with their main workers from each area. These meetings are new, and this work is still being tested to ensure it is effective. A new way to Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 4 monitor interventions has been implemented to ensure there is a clear record of what interventions have been carried out with children. However, the interventions work is not yet fully recorded in all children’s records.

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Findings from the inspection

The environment is not homely or welcoming. There is a lack of personalisation in the communal areas. Some areas that children use have been redecorated using paint that can be drawn on with chalk. One child has drawn on this wall to make it brighter and more personalised. However, other areas of the home have blank walls, which can appear institutional. This means that not all areas are homely environments for children to spend time in.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager understands the importance of consistency for the children and recognises the impact that recent staff turnover has had on team morale. Recruiting, and retaining, a skilled and experienced workforce has been a key priority for the leadership team. Efforts to improve staffing are ongoing, with active recruitment continuing. While some agency staff are still being used, the manager ensures that those sourced have appropriate experience so that children continue to receive consistent and high-quality care.

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Findings from the inspection

Two requirements and six recommendations were raised following the home’s last inspection. These have been reinstated and will be reviewed at the home’s next inspection. Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/06/2025 Full Good 17/09/2024 Full Good 15/11/2022 Full Good 14/12/2021 Full Good Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 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 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 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 promotes their welfare.

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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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring effective and integrated multidisciplinary working across health, care and education. 30 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to staff receiving regular one-to-one sessions at the frequency set out in the home’s policy.

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Requirement Due date

Supervision must be supportive, reflective and assist professional development. 30 December 2025 Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than five days after the incident of restraint. Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, pages 49 and 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that children’s case records are kept up to date. In particular, risk assessments and safety plans need to be updated and contain consistent information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that each child’s day-to-day health and well- being needs are met. In particular, embed the framework for integrated care to support all staff to sensitively consider children’s lived experience and have a shared understanding of how to improve their social and emotional well-being. Improve systems and processes for health staff to routinely record updates on children’s health in children’s shared records and for health practitioners to routinely contribute to children’s education, health and care plan annual reviews. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that children's homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Specifically, review the home's

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Recommendations

premises and take action to provide a more homely environment conducive to the care of vulnerable children. ('Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should tailor the children’s care so that it is reflective of the child's needs. In particular, intervention work completed by the children should be captured in their records and its effectiveness evaluated. ('Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 21, paragraph 4.5)  The registered person should ensure that all staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that

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Recommendations

will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 8

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Secure children’s home details

Registered provider: East Sussex County Council

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Secure children’s home details

Registered provider address: East Sussex County Council, County Hall, St Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1UE

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Inspectors

Thirza Smith, Social Care Inspector Leanne Lyon, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for secure children’s home: SC031490 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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