Children's home run by Quality Protects Children Ltd in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 1 SC062248 Registered provider: Quality Protects Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and/or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/07/2025 Full Inadequate 08/10/2024 Full Good 13/06/2023 Full Inadequate 13/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s overall progress and experiences have been adversely affected by shortfalls in safeguarding practices and poor leadership and management arrangements. These shortfalls have compromised children’s safety and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children say that they have heard staff speaking negatively about children and other members of staff. Consultation with children is poor. When children express their opinions about the home, staff do not fully explore them. As a result, children do not feel heard or that their views are important.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not always have positive relationships with the staff team or other children living in the home. Leaders and managers have commissioned therapeutic support to address children’s emotional needs. However, this is not fully embedded into daily care practices due to staff changes. Consequently, one child spends prolonged periods isolated in their bedroom and is no longer attending school, nor are they taking part in informal learning opportunities or activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are enrolled in education settings, but the support and encouragement they receive to attend school and make progress in their learning is poor. Children who refuse to attend school do not have daily planners to ensure that informal learning takes place, and they lack the support they need to have a good routine and re-engage in learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child’s time at the home ended abruptly because staff were unable to meet their needs and keep them safe. Subsequently, the child was moved to another home without a sufficient level of planning and preparation.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected. Children are exposed to harm due to inadequate safeguarding practices, as well as emotional harm. Children are isolated and subject to witnessing and becoming victims of frightening behaviour.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Children’s risk assessments are updated following incidents. However, staff do not follow children’s risk assessments. When children are suspected of being under the influence of substances, staff do not seek medical advice or monitor their welfare. This leaves children at significant risk of harm.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff do not supervise children appropriately. This led to one child being verbally and physically abused by two other children living at the home. Staff failed to take action to protect the child from harm. The child reports they feel unsafe at the home and let down by staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 4 Staff are not always able to meet children’s needs because of a shortage of available staff who drive and a lack of consideration for alternative transport options. This poor planning has resulted in staff failing to consistently search for children when they have been missing from the home. In addition, staff rely on taxis to take them to look for children who are missing late at night. As a result, children are often missing from the home for prolonged periods. When a child went missing from home, there was a lack of timely and effective action, which directly led to the child experiencing harm during their

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff do not have the skills to support children in understanding or managing their own behaviours. Some staff express reluctance in the use of physical intervention, as they lack the confidence to manage situations. This has resulted in senior members of the leadership team having difficult conversations with children because staff are not equipped to do so. During an incident, a child was physically held 14 times. A senior member of the leadership team used a hold that is not consistent with the providers agreed techniques that all staff are suitably trained in during this incident, placing the child at risk of significant harm. Senior leaders who had oversight of the incident did not address this issue with the service manager.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Leaders and managers fail to respond appropriately when staff members face allegations. One member of staff was alleged to have taken illegal substances while working at the home. This was not referred to the appropriate agencies, nor was it thoroughly explored. One child, who has had traumatic experiences in relation to substance misuse, told the inspector that they are told not to misuse substances, but staff do this. This raises serious concerns about the suitability of the adults working in the home and undermines the safety and welfare of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is no registered manager in post, and the management arrangements for the home are not effective. Despite the service manager identifying the home’s areas for improvement, leaders and managers have not implemented effective changes or demonstrated any improvements since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite staff receiving training and reflective workshops to enhance their skills in managing missing-from-home incidents and physical aggression, such issues have continued to occur. Staff’s responses to children’s risks and behaviours do not ensure that they are provided with safe and protective care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff said they do not feel supported in their roles and spoke negatively about other staff members, describing a ‘cliquey and toxic’ culture in the home. A child also spoke about the poor culture and inappropriate conversations that are held in front of children about specific members of staff. This does not promote a positive culture for children to thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

All staff who were working at the home at the time of the previous inspection are subject to performance plans. Performance plans focus on addressing the shortfalls identified at the last inspection and outlining how staff will be assisted in enhancing their skills. Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 5 Despite this, staff continue to lack the skills to safeguard children and ensure that their needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose does not include accurate details of the staff who work at the home. Furthermore, leaders, managers and staff do not implement the model and level of care outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e)) 13 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 7 The registered person must ensure that staff have the appropriate skills, knowledge, and experience to take effective action to safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that allegations made against staff working at the home are responded to appropriately.

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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

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

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(a)(b)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the experience and skills to meet the needs of the children who live at the home. 13 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 8 The registered person must ensure that the monitoring and review systems are used to identify and address shortfalls in the quality-of-care children receive.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and 13 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 9 have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(ix)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the relevant skills to understand children’s experiences and behaviours and build positive relationships with them.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the skills to safeguard children when they are being bullied or harmed by other children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff help to rebuild relationships between children and staff following incidents of socially unacceptable behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority; and 13 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 10 that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are only admitted to the home if staff have the skills and experience to meet their needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are supported in line with the home’s statement of purpose when moving on from the home.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 13 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the statement of purpose reflects the way in which the home operates and that the details of the staff working at the home are accurate. 13 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 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: SC062248 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Quality Protects Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hill House, Archway Road, Huyton, Liverpool L36 9XB

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Inspector

Nicola Rutherford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC062248 13 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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