Parkfield Young Persons Service

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Parkfield Young Persons Service 1 Parkfield Young Persons Service Registered provider: North Star Housing Group

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

provider

This supported accommodation service is operated by a private provider. The provider can accommodate up to 10 individuals in single-occupancy flats and one child in a shared or group-living space, which is the emergency bed. The service is not limited to accommodating looked-after children or care leavers.

p.1

provider

At the time of this inspection, 10 individuals were being accommodated. Six were looked-after children aged 16 or 17 living in the single-occupancy flats.

p.1

provider

The registered manager and the nominated individual registered with Ofsted at the same time as the organisation, in August 2024.

p.1

provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 8 September 2025 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 10 to 11 September 2025.

p.1

Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately three years.

p.1

Summary of findings

Children and staff have trusting and positive relationships. Children feel valued and heard.

p.1

Summary of findings

Staff provide children with high-quality support based on their needs. This support helps children to prepare for adulthood.

p.1

Summary of findings

Children feel happy and safe living in their homes. Children know they can contact staff for help when they need it. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Parkfield Young Persons Service 2 Leaders and managers have high expectations and standards. These are reflected in the support children receive.

p.1

Summary of findings

Leaders and managers provide staff with good support and training. Staff feel valued. This helps ensure children are supported by a consistent team.

p.2

Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are invested in the children’s short-term and long-term outcomes. They have children’s best interests at the centre of their decision-making.

p.2

Summary of findings

There are several areas where recording and record-keeping need improvement, but this has not affected the quality of support provided.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children

Children enjoy good relationships with the staff. The staff invest time in getting to know children. The quality time they spend together helps them to build trust. Careful planning helps children to move into their accommodation positively. This helps them to settle in quickly. One child commented, ‘When you first move in you are welcomed by the staff team and you find it’s a lovely place.’ When endings are unplanned, the welfare and well-being of the children remain paramount.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children

The staff help the children to maintain good physical health. For those children with specialist health needs, the staff are keen to learn about specific conditions. A specialist nurse delivers the training to staff to help them know how best to support the child. As a result of the support provided to children, they become independent in managing their own health needs, ready for future independence.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children

The children’s education is a priority. The staff help children to find the right educational courses to help them achieve their future goals. Some children are already in employment. They are successfully managing their work, and the experience will support them in the future. For those not in education or employment, staff are supporting them to find the right courses or employment.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have individual support plans. They set goals with staff in individual work sessions and learn skills which will help them to be independent. Key skills they learn include budgeting and how to keep their homes clean. One young person due to leave the service said, ‘They have helped me change my life.’

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children

The staff help the children to feel a sense of value and belonging. Staff put on optional group activities which promote a feeling of community. Activities involve local walks, barbecues, craft and cooking activities. This gives the children new opportunities to enjoy and build memories and positive relationships with adults and peers. The children have access to technology and Wi-Fi in their homes. This helps children to connect with people who are important to them.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children

Professionals from social care agencies and health services said the staff have the necessary knowledge and confidence to assist and support the children to make positive progress in independent living. A health professional spoke of staff wanting Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Parkfield Young Persons Service 3 to know how best to support a child’s health needs and completing the necessary training. Staff competency helps the children to be supported effectively, treated with dignity and respect and have a positive self-view.

p.2

How well children are helped and protected

Children learn how to keep themselves safe. The children feel they can contact staff anytime. They can see staff in person or contact them by phone whenever they need. One child said, ‘Staff are always there to help if you ask.’

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

The staff know how to keep the children safe. They are confident to follow safeguarding procedures and know how to report any concerns.

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

Staff are aware of risks children may face. They take action to support the children in crisis. After incidents, staff provide support to help reduce future risks.

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

Children participate in a range of activities with specialist services, including understanding domestic abuse first aid. When they move in, they learn how to keep safe in the home and about, for example, fire safety.

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers adhere to safer recruitment procedures. A range of checks are undertaken when recruiting staff. This helps reduce the potential for unsuitable people to be employed.

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

On one occasion, a child’s risk assessment was not updated after an incident. However, appropriate action was taken to support the children at the time. The lack of consistent recording could potentially leave risks unmonitored and lead to varying responses from staff. This was acknowledged by the manager and immediately addressed.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The nominated individual and the registered service manager are keen to continuously improve the service for the children. The registered service manager is a positive role model. She has high expectations of the quality of support. She leads the staff team by example.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The leaders and managers promote good relationships with other professionals. They ensure staff communicate well with others to help make sure children’s needs are met. A range of professionals gave positive feedback about the support the children receive. One professional said, ‘Staff are fantastic at communicating with myself and I feel involved in planning.’ The strong focus on multi-agency working helps children to get the specific support they need.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

CCTV is placed in communal areas as part of surveillance measures to safeguard children. This does not impact on the children’s privacy. However, before this was raised during the inspection, night staff wore bodycam that they were able to turn on during incidents. This is intrusive, and children and social workers were not made Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Parkfield Young Persons Service 4 aware of its use. Leaders and managers had no oversight of how and where the footage was stored, the duration of the storage or who had access to this. Leaders and managers acknowledged this and immediately stopped its use.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Daytime staff receive regular training. The training they receive helps them to understand children’s needs. Night staff also receive training; however, it is unclear how leaders are assuring themselves of its effectiveness. There is also a lack of supervision and oversight of the night staff’s practice in their work with children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Daytime staff feel well supported by the registered service manager. They feel they can talk to her at any time. Their supervisions are held regularly at the frequency set out by the provider.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There are several areas where recording and record-keeping needs improvement. These issues have not affected the quality of support provided. However, if left unchecked, they have the potential to do so. Supervision records for staff, including the registered service manager, are poor. Any reflection or actions identified during supervision are not recorded effectively. More broadly, there are inconsistencies in where children’s information is recorded. Current arrangements for sharing information for day staff are effective. However, information-sharing for night staff is limited. This does not provide them with access to relevant updated sections of children’s files.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The location assessment was updated in September 2025. This did not take into consideration important recent incidents. The registered service manager acknowledged this and began to address this during the inspection. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Parkfield Young Persons Service 5

p.4

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.

p.5

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(g))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must have oversight of night (concierge) staff’s practice and performance to ensure that they can support and meet the needs of the children. 7 November 2025

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

Requirement Due date

only use devices for monitoring or surveillance in communal areas and then only if—

p.5

Requirement Due date

each child’s accommodating authority consents to the monitoring or surveillance,

p.5

Requirement Due date

children are informed in advance of the intention to carry out monitoring or surveillance, and

p.5

Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to each child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(c)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 7 November 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Parkfield Young Persons Service 6 The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the location of the premises used as supported accommodation is suitable for the category or categories of supported accommodation provided, by—

p.6

Requirement Due date

reviewing the appropriateness and suitability of the location of each of the premises used as supported accommodation (“a location assessment”), and in doing so, consulting and taking into account the views of each relevant person. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 7 November 2025

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with their policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about children must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 58)  The registered person should ensure supervision is being delivered effectively. It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record, which may be electronic. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 51)

p.6

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: Parkfield Young Persons Service 7

p.6

Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: North Star Housing Group

p.7

Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: customer.services@northstarhg.co.uk

p.7

Inspectors

Shelley Chowdhury, Social Care Inspector Jamie Richardson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Parkfield Young Persons Service 8 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.

p.7

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8