Children's home run by Bradford Children’s and Families Trust

Inspection report for children’s home: 2729749 1 Registered provider: Bradford Children’s and Families Trust Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by Bradford Children and Families Trust on behalf of a local authority. The home provides care for up to 10 children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children can stay at the home on a short-break arrangement or live permanently at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager at the home since September 2023. A new manager started on 1 September 2025 and is still to make their application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: This home was judged inadequate at the full inspection in June 2025. Ofsted issued two compliance notices under regulations 13 and 27 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. A monitoring visit was carried out on 7 August 2025, and the trust had met the steps associated with the respective compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729749 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/06/2025 Full Inadequate 11/06/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2729749 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences of care are steadily improving. However, there remain fundamental issues that are undermining staff’s ability to consistently provide good levels of care.

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improvement to be good

Important aspects of the children’s care are not always clearly communicated to the child’s social worker. Consequently, this undermines the social worker’s ability to effectively and confidently make important decisions in the child’s best interests. One example involves the lack of information sharing with a social worker about the influence that a child’s deprivation of liberty order is having on this child’s life.

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improvement to be good

There is good planning associated with children moving on from the home. This is done at the child’s pace. Furthermore, the manager has ensured that children have advocates to promote the child’s views in this process. Indeed, all significant individuals associated with the child are consulted and involved in the planning. Although, in one instance, poor information sharing created an unnecessary issue to be resolved in respect of a child’s proposed move.

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improvement to be good

All children’s bedrooms are well presented and personalised. Furthermore, staff have added photo displays to the walls in communal areas that show children enjoying outings with staff. These efforts have injected a sense of home and personality into the home environment.

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improvement to be good

Staff sensitively support children when they are grieving loved ones. Moreover, the positive working relationships with children’s families ensure that the child’s needs and wishes are acted on. This enables the child to feel that they are consulted and involved in funeral arrangements for their loved one.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond quickly and effectively to children’s medical emergencies that involve children. However, there are gaps in the recording of significant events. Therefore, the manager’s ability to evaluate, promote reflective practice and implement plans to reduce risks associated with the children’s health and well-being is significantly undermined.

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improvement to be good

Staff cannot easily access important written records, such as children’s behaviour plans. This is due to children’s paper files being bloated with outdated documents. Additionally, there are contradictory statements across the children’s written records. Therefore, children’s written records cannot always be relied on. This undermines staff’s ability and confidence to apply guidance that they may require to keep children safer. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729749 4 The responsibility to oversee the management of children’s medication belongs to one member of senior staff. Although there are plans to train more staff to oversee this responsibility, these were not in place at the time of the inspection. Furthermore, staff do not have clear guidance about things to consider before administering over-the-counter medication to children, such as paracetamol.

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improvement to be good

Children consistently go to a range of healthcare professionals. Additionally, staff have established good links with healthcare providers, such as the epilepsy nurse. Staff have clear plans to guide them in recognising and responding to children who suffer seizures.

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improvement to be good

The home has continued to be blighted by anti-social behaviour around the home’s perimeter. The staff and manager continue to engage positively with the police to raise the profile of the home in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home continues to operate without a registered manager. However, a new manager has been appointed. The manager has made good efforts to include staff in resolving the shortfalls associated with the functioning of the home. Importantly, in a short space of time, the manager has worked hard to learn about the children and their plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There remain some unresolves issues in the team that need to be resolved as these issues continue to undermine the care of the children. The manager has implemented frequent staff meetings in the hope of creating a whole team approach in respect of the care of the children. Additionally, leaders are aware that staff need the opportunity to reflect on past work experiences that remain unresolved to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager said that their induction has been supportive. Furthermore, leaders have ensured that the manager has appropriate levels of support and resources. Likewise, new staff say that their induction to the home has been a positive experience. As a result, new employees are better supported to adapt to their new role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders continue to review the backlog of staff training to address identified knowledge gaps. Some staff are already benefiting from this. One member of staff said that their training was ‘so powerful, it makes you realise the importance of our role’. Investing in staff training aims to equip staff to meet the needs of the children while making staff feel more valued and supported to carry out their role. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729749 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 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c)) 1 November 2025

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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

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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 staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— 1 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2729749 6 research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(c)(e)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1) (b)) 1 November 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that medicines are administered in line with a medically approved protocol. In particular, staff should have clear guidance for administering non-prescribed medication to children. Additionally, ensure sufficient numbers of staff are trained to carry out medication audits. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and they should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2729749 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bradford Children’s and Families Trust

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sir Henry Mitchell House (5th Floor), 4 Manchester Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD5 0QL

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2729749 8 and inspects 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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