New Key Support Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 1 New Key Support Ltd Registered provider: New Key Support Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned by a private provider. It offers accommodation for up to 11 individuals in self-contained units specifically for the sole use of one person. The service also offers three shared or group living homes, which are not limited to accommodating looked-after children or care leavers, for up to seven individuals.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, 14 looked-after children or care leavers, aged 16 and 17, were using the service.

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provider

The registered manager, who is also the nominated individual, registered with Ofsted when the service registered in July 2024.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 1 September 2025 and started that day. The inspector was on site from 3 to 5 September 2025.

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Outcome

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings.

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Summary of findings

Children’s known needs and vulnerabilities are not reflected in their support plans. As a result, staff do not fully understand how to meet children’s individual needs.

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Summary of findings

When risks to children occur or their vulnerabilities increase, staff fail to teach children important life skills to enable them to better keep themselves safe.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of the service. This negatively impacts children receiving effective support to enable them to reach their full potential. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s experiences of this service are varied. Some children said they have positive relationships with staff, and others said staff are ‘unhelpful’. Staff do not consistently know children well. For example, some staff are unfamiliar with children’s histories, current personal circumstances, and their religious beliefs. Their lack of knowledge and understanding of children’s circumstances is a barrier to developing positive relationships and supporting children in progressing towards independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff do not provide children with tailored support for their specific needs. Staff fail to help children identify their goals or aspirations, and support arrangements do not consistently provide children with opportunities to learn new skills. When support sessions occur, they are of poor quality. This limits children’s progress towards adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are not invited to co-design their support plans. Staff develop these when children first move in. Children’s support plans lack important details, such as their family arrangements, cultural needs and how to meet them. Equally, when children’s circumstances change, their plans do not reflect these changes. The poor quality of children’s support plans limits staff’s ability to meet their needs. For children, this means their experiences of the service are poor.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not ensure that they gather adequate information about children’s needs and vulnerabilities before they move in. This lack of information and understanding means that children do not always receive the support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s accommodation is homely and welcoming, and they are encouraged to personalise their space. However, their right to privacy and a safe and secure bedroom to store their belongings is not consistently provided. Additionally, in one premises, the fire safety arrangements are not followed, which leads to unnecessary risks to children and staff in the event of a fire.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children engage in education, training or employment. When there are barriers preventing children from accessing mainstream settings, staff seek other arrangements and alternative provisions. For example, a community gardening programme and the organisation’s cafe offer children opportunities to gain work experience in an area that interests them. This helps children understand the value of education and employment.

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How well children are helped and protected

Risks to children are not always managed effectively. Leaders and managers do not ensure that risk assessments reflect children’s known or emerging vulnerabilities. Staff do not update children’s risk assessments after incidents occur. Furthermore, they do not consistently help children reflect on the incident or learn new skills to improve their safety. Consequently, risks to children do not always decrease while using this service. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 3 Safeguarding arrangements are poor. Leaders and managers have appointed two safeguarding leads to assess risks to children’s safety, provide advice to staff and collaborate with other agencies to ensure that children are safe. However, safeguarding leads do not have appropriate training or skills to carry out their roles. Additionally, staff do not have continuous access to a designated safeguarding lead

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How well children are helped and protected

due to their working hours. This does not align with the organisation’s child protection policies and potentially places children at increased risk of harm, as safeguarding concerns may not be adequately addressed or managed.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers have failed to implement training to ensure that staff have the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to meet children’s needs. For example, staff have not received training in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, ‘Prevent’ duty or radicalisation, despite these being known needs and vulnerabilities for children living in the accommodation.

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How well children are helped and protected

The service does not consistently have sufficient staffing levels to meet children’s needs. For example, one child who moved in required overnight support. Leaders and managers identified that they did not have staffing resources to meet this need before the child moved in. However, the child’s placement was agreed, and the placing authority arranged for another provider to support overnight hours. For this child, their placement ended suddenly when the arrangement was not effective or safe. This failure to respond to children’s needs is detrimental to their safety and emotional well-being.

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How well children are helped and protected

Recruitment procedures are not robust. Leaders and managers do not sufficiently explore gaps in staff’s employment history. Equally, they have failed to explore why previous roles where staff have worked with children or vulnerable adults have ended. For example, one staff member’s employment ended after four days. Recruiting managers did not explore why their employment ended suddenly with either the candidate or the previous employer. As a result, leaders and managers cannot be assured that new staff are suitable or safe to work with children. This potentially places children at increased risk of harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

When children do not return home at their agreed time, staff try to locate them and contact them. When concerns about their safety increase, staff report children as missing to the police. However, when children return home, staff do not ensure that other agencies carry out a return home interview. This limits staff’s understanding about children’s motivation to go missing and hinders their ability to prevent further incidents from occurring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

When the inspection was announced, leaders and managers failed to disclose accurate information about the children currently using the service. Ofsted later became aware of a child living at one of the premises who the managers had failed to disclose. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 4 The registered person does not have suitable arrangements in place to ensure that management oversight of the service continues when they are absent. Consequently, staff do not consistently have a suitably skilled person to approach for information or guidance when concerns about children arise. Additionally, some information about children, particularly those who recently moved in, is held by the registered person and not available to other leaders in the organisation. As a result, staff are unaware of some children’s current circumstances. This places children at potential risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered person does not have an effective recording and monitoring system in place. Records are poor quality and often incomplete. Actions previously set at monitoring visits are not followed up. Furthermore, the registered person does not consider the areas of development needed for staff. The monitoring system lacks broad oversight of the service and fails to assess children’s progress, safety and experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Admission procedures are poor and lead to some children moving into the accommodation when their needs surpass the scope of a supported accommodation service. For some children, their placements are agreed, and they move into the accommodation before leaders and managers receive information from the placing authority about their needs. As a result, staff do not know or understand the child’s needs and have no meaningful plans to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not routinely obtain children’s formal records or plans. For example, at the time of the inspection, the service held only one child’s pathway plan and did not have records of formal reviews or meetings held by the placing authority for any of the children. As a result, staff are not consistently aware of children’s agreed goals or the actions they must take to help children make progress or keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered person does not ensure that the service operates in line with the statement of purpose. Children do not always experience safe or effective support to help them transition into adulthood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

When serious incidents occur, leaders and managers do not notify Ofsted. Some incidents are poorly recorded, and others are not recorded. This means that Ofsted has no oversight of what actions managers and staff take to safeguard children when serious incidents occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff supervision lacks reflection and prevents staff from developing their understanding about children’s needs, the expectations of their roles, or how to improve their practice. The registered person does not receive regular supervision from a suitably skilled person. This lack of supervision limits the opportunities for managers and staff to develop their practice and better develop the support available to children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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

lead and manage the supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work effectively as a team, where appropriate, to meet the needs of children;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the supported accommodation undertaking has sufficient staff to support and accommodate children safely and effectively;

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Requirement Due date

implement recruitment practices that ensure staff are suitable to work with children and to keep them safe from harm(1);

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)) 10 November Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 6 The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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 effectiveness of child protection policies is kept under review and ensure that, where appropriate, those policies are revised;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or any other harm, and act to reduce such risk;

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Requirement Due date

work collaboratively with children to help them understand how to keep safe, by offering guidance and support on how to minimise any potential risk of harm. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(c)(f)(ii)(iii)) 10 November

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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 premises used as supported accommodation—

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Requirement Due date

offer a comfortable, positive and nurturing environment, while respecting children’s need for privacy;

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Requirement Due date

comply with all relevant statutory provisions dealing with health and safety or fire safety matters. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(vi)(x)) 10 November

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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 children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates; 10 November Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Requirement Due date

co-operate with the child’s accommodating authority in agreeing the child’s placement plan or, as the case may be, pathway plan;

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Requirement Due date

engage and work with the accommodating authority if the registered person has concerns or if the child’s support needs to be changed, including where that change may mean that the child requires more intensive support;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that processes are in place to enable children to access support from other organisations and community services, such that they are encouraged and enabled to access a range of services, including those offered by advocacy organisations and training providers;

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Requirement Due date

in the event that the registered person or a member of staff considers that an accommodating authority or a relevant person is failing to provide the support set out in a child’s relevant plans, make representations, or, as the case may be, enable staff to make representations, to the accommodating authority or relevant person with a view to ensuring that the child’s needs are met;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such individuals or organisations that the registered person considers appropriate, having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended the supported accommodation undertaking is to provide support and accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an adequate level of support is available to the child to assist with the transition out of supported accommodation. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(f)(g)(h)(i)(l))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if— 10 October 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 8 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);

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

any other individuals or organisations who or which have been notified;

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

is made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f)(4)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) in relation to each child accommodated by the supported accommodation undertaking which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 2,

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date, and 10 October 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 9 are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep records of other information relating to the supported accommodation undertaking set out in Schedule 3.

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Requirement Due date

maintain the records in Schedule 3, which may be kept in electronic form;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are accessible to children, the CIECSS and each accommodating authority. (Regulation 25 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 10 October 2025

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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: New Key Support Ltd 10

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: New Key Support Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Cobalt Business Exchange, Fabriam Centre, Cobalt Business Centre, Cobalt Park Way, Wallsend NE28 9NZ

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Charles Shipley

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Inspector

Beth Forster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: New Key Support Ltd 11 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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