Children's Home run by Bluebell children’s care Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 1 Registered provider: Bluebell Children’s Care Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider and offers care for three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection. The child spoke with the inspector as part of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home does not currently have a registered manager. A new manager is in post, who is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home was registered on 10 April 2025. This is the home’s first inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

p.1

inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected, 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.

p.1

inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The quality of care provided to the child is inadequate. There are serious and widespread failures in the safeguarding arrangements for the child and the leadership and management of the home.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child is not accessing any education. Consequently, they are not making any measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential. Plans are not in place to support the child’s educational needs. This does not demonstrate that the manager and staff prioritise the child’s education.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child has not made progress since joining the home. Staff have not taken the time to understand the child’s needs and are unable to support the child with individualised care. The result is that the daily experience for the child is that of little structure, no planned activities or learning.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child can spend time with friends and see family. This is not structured and does not include assessment or risk, despite known associations with individuals considered a risk and who are involved in criminal activities. Additionally, the child has not consistently seen some family members, including siblings. This is due to the manager failing to a challenge the local authority to agree on plans.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child does not feel listened to. Staff do not seek the views of the child, leaving them without guidance or input into their care. The child lives in an environment that is not personalised or homely.

p.2

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

The child is at risk of potential harm due to the failings in safeguarding arrangements. Incidents have been poorly managed, and staff have not taken action to safeguard the child.

p.2

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

Staff do not follow the missing-from-home protocol or complete effective return home interviews. These interviews were not used to support learning. The child’s risks and behaviour patterns were overlooked, resulting in longer absences. Staff also failed to manage risks effectively, which led to the child breaching bail conditions.

p.2

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

Staff have not accurately assessed risk specific to the child. Risk assessments and behaviour support plans do not reflect information from the local authority.

p.2

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

Staff have not supported the child to understand risk. The child continues to be in harmful situations. Staff do not complete direct work with the child so that they know how to keep themselves safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 3 Although restraint has not been used in the home, some staff are not trained. Risk assessments are weak and do not give confidence that staff could respond safely if restraint became necessary.

p.2

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

The child has not been supported with medical care. Following the child’s injury, staff did not consider or seek further medical attention, which raises concerns about the adequacy of the response and safeguarding practice.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the home is poor. Leaders and managers have not taken action to address shortfalls in staff practice. This has led to repeated incidents where the child has been exposed to harm.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager departed the home abruptly and without providing adequate notice. This decision was taken without consideration of the potential impact on the child, the staff team or the overall management and stability of the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the home’s opening, the staff team has experienced ongoing instability, which has affected the consistency of care and support provided to the child. The child has expressed discomfort with the frequent changes in staffing, particularly in relation to the use of agency staff. This has had an impact on the child’s sense of stability.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager and staff do not have a good understanding of the child and their needs. As a result, the child is not receiving the level of care they require. The manager is not aware of the child’s current education plans, and action has not been taken to obtain all local authority documentation relating to the child.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have not received regular supervision. In the limited instances where supervision has taken place, it has been of poor quality, lacking sufficient time, structure and focus on the child’s development and needs.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff support, training and qualification have been inadequately managed. A substantial number of staff have not completed mandatory training, and there is no training matrix in place to monitor or plan workforce development.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The multi-agency network supporting the child is underdeveloped and lacks effective coordination. This is due to insufficient managerial proactiveness and limited engagement with external professionals and services.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings lack structure, are inconsistently held, and are poorly documented. As a result, they are ineffective and appear to serve only as a procedural formality rather than a meaningful forum for reflection or planning. Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 4

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due Date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

p.4

Requirement Due Date

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

p.4

Requirement Due Date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

p.4

Requirement Due Date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

p.4

Requirement Due Date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(vii)(viii))

p.4

Requirement Due Date

The provider must advocate on behalf of children who are not in full-time education, by challenging and escalating concerns with the placing authority and virtual school.

p.4

Requirement Due Date

The registered provider must ensure that when children are not in education, there is clear structure and routine in place at the home to support independent study. 28 November 2025

p.4

Requirement Due Date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.4

Requirement Due Date

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

p.4

Requirement Due Date

that staff— 28 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 5 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;

p.4

Requirement Due Date

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

p.5

Requirement Due Date

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

p.5

Requirement Due Date

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

p.5

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

p.5

Requirement Due Date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the children’s individual risk management plans provide staff with clear strategies to manage and reduce risk, particularly around missing-from-care incidents and exploitation.

p.5

Requirement Due Date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk management plans also take into consideration other relevant safety plans provided by external agencies in order to manage and mitigate risk.

p.5

Requirement Due Date

This also relates to managers and staff following safeguarding procedures.

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 children’s home that—

p.5

Requirement Due Date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.5

Requirement Due Date

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

p.5

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)(h)) 28 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 6 This relates to the provider ensuring that there is adequate management oversight in the home, specifically around the recording of significant incidents.

p.5

Requirement Due Date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that significant incidents are evaluated with scrutiny, taking into consideration any learning outcomes that can be implemented within children’s risk management plans, or to support the development of staff.

p.6

Requirement Due Date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff have access to regular training that relates to the needs of the children.

p.6

Requirement Due Date

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

p.6

Requirement Due Date

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

p.6

Requirement Due Date

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

p.6

Requirement Due Date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the child’s records are kept up to date. 28 November 2025

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 45, paragraph 9.30) Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bluebell Children’s Care Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Dingley

p.7

Inspector

Paul McKay-Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2813238 8 regulates 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.

p.7

Inspector

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

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8