Fostering Solutions Ltd

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 1 Fostering Solutions Ltd Fostering Solutions Ltd Priestly Court, Gillette Close, Staffordshire Technology Park, Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire ST18 0LQ Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Fostering Solutions Limited (Midlands) is one of several fostering agencies owned and managed by the National Fostering Group (NFG). The registered office is situated in Stafford, and there is a satellite office in Long Eaton, Nottingham.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The agency provides short-term, long-term, emergency and respite fostering placements as well as parent and child placements. The fostering agency has 77 approved fostering households. There are 88 children in placement.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The registered manager has been in post for over two years.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The independent fostering agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive relationships with their foster carers. They are made to feel welcome and part of the foster carers’ families. Four children were spoken to as part of the inspection, and all were very positive about where they live. One child said that they liked the foster carers and the other children that they live with and that they like to play with them and go on days out together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in stable placements, many of them for several years. A high percentage of children live with their brothers and sisters, which helps to maintain family relationships. Some young people remain with their carers post 18 in ‘staying put’ arrangements, continuing to be part of the carers’ family into adulthood. Children make timely progress because of the nurturing and committed care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a range of positive experiences while living with their foster carers. This includes taking part in hobbies, day trips and holidays. Older children can also take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s scheme, which is facilitated by the agency. These experiences help children to develop a sense of identity and enjoyment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers understand the importance of listening to children’s views. Children, including those who are non-verbal, are supported to share their views openly. Foster carers in one family have learned Makaton to help them communicate with the child they care for. As a result, the child is making steady progress with their communication. Another child whose speech was significantly delayed is now making progress thanks to the support of their foster carers and their collaborative work with other professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s attendance at school is good. When children struggle to engage in school, foster carers and staff from the agency work well with other professionals to ensure that their educational needs are met. Children who are not attending school full time have plans in place to increase their time in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to understand their identity and recognise their heritage. Foster carers help children to maintain relationships with their families in line with their plans. In addition, children’s individual cultural needs are recognised and supported. For example, one child is supported with specialist haircare and engagement in cultural activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In parent and child placements, parents receive effective support to ensure that they can provide appropriate care for their child. They are supported to improve their skills and independence so that they are more likely to be able to care for their child without support in the future. Foster carers are aware of risks and communicate well with the agency and social workers to ensure that any issues are addressed promptly. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 3 Foster carers feel valued and are very happy working for the agency. Thorough assessments help to ensure that potential foster carers have the appropriate skills and attributes to care for vulnerable children, while also helping prospective foster carers to feel ready for the role. Many foster carers have been with the agency for several years and value the support that they receive. The agency is keen to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

recognise foster carers’ achievements with awards. In addition, one fostering family has recently been recognised in the King’s honours list for their commitment to fostering, which is an excellent achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Comprehensive matching is completed before new children are placed with carers. However, records do not show the steps taken to introduce children to their foster carers or any transition visits completed. This is a missed opportunity to evidence how well children are prepared for the move to their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers’ records generally show the quality of children’s experiences, including any challenges. However, one foster carer had not completed records for a child for several months. Despite the agency recognising this reoccurring issue, the agency has been unable to support the carer to make the required improvement. The poor standard of recording limits the agency’s oversight of risk and will limit the information available to the child if they choose to seek their records in the future.

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

Children benefit from relationships with trusted adults who they can share worries with. In addition to confiding in their foster carers, children also value the support from the agency’s family support worker. One child said that they can tell them anything, and another child is benefiting from spending quality time with the family support worker, who is acting as a positive male role model.

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

Children’s plans include a clear assessment of risk. Foster carers understand children’s needs and are confident about how to use strategies to keep them safe. There is good multi-agency working. For example, one child who is known to self- harm has clear plans in place that help the professionals around them to continually assess and manage fluctuating risk.

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

The staff within the agency manage allegations and concerns appropriately. They engage effectively with relevant professionals to manage any risks and provide support to foster carers while investigations take place. Foster carers have early annual reviews and return to panel once investigations are concluded to ensure that only suitable people continue to be approved to foster. Any concerns about staff practice are also investigated and addressed appropriately in a timely manner.

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

Staff and foster carers are safely recruited. Staff recruitment is managed well, with robust systems in place to complete all necessary checks before employment commences. In addition, all necessary checks are completed during foster carer assessments to ensure that only safe individuals engage in caring for children. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 4 Foster carers understand what action to take when children go missing and report any incidents promptly to the agency. Professional meetings take place to consider risk, but actions from the meetings are unclear as the minutes are not always recorded effectively.

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

Unannounced visits are completed to foster carers; however, these are not always completed in keeping with regulation. One foster carer had not had an unannounced visit for over two years. In addition, one visit was not completed by a qualified social worker, and there were two occasions where the visit took place outside of the home. Records of unannounced visits are limited and do not consistently show that the suitability of the home environment has been considered as part of the visit.

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good

The agency is managed by an experienced manager who is committed to supporting children to have positive experiences. She has worked for the agency for many years and has a good understanding of children’s plans and foster carers’ needs. The manager has recently resigned from her position and is due to leave shortly. Recruitment to replace her is underway.

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good

The manager is committed and dedicated to achieving positive outcomes for children. However, limited support and a high number of staff changes have adversely affected the capacity of leaders and managers to monitor the service effectively, impacting the overall quality of leadership and management and leading to gaps in practice.

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good

Inconsistencies in recording have affected managers’ ability to maintain robust oversight and ensure accountability. Records do not align with the expected standards. For example, staff do not consistently complete records in a timely way, and they do not always include necessary detail. While this has not impacted on children’s experiences directly, it presents risks to the continuity of care and the ability to evidence decision-making.

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good

Monitoring is not always effective. Managers complete a range of audits, most of which are heavily focused on data rather than quality. As a result, they have not identified shortfalls in recording and missing documents. In addition, the effectiveness of monitoring has sometimes been impacted by managers covering social workers when there have been unfilled staff vacancies or absence. Consequently, there are gaps in social work practice, including one foster carer not receiving supervision for several months and one foster carer’s recording not being reviewed for several months. Despite these issues being known to managers, insufficient action has been taken to address the shortfalls.

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good

Foster carers have access to an extensive catalogue of training, and completion rates are good. However, some foster carers have not received training relevant to the specific needs of the children they are caring for. For example, one foster carer had not completed mental health or self-harm training despite these being relevant to Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 5 their child’s care. In another case, only one of the foster carers had completed self- harm training. As the agency’s monitoring tools only identify gaps in mandatory training, these gaps had not been identified.

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good

The agency has not completed foster carer annual reviews in line with regulation and has not done so for several years. Foster carers attend an annual review meeting to reconsider their suitability to foster. However, the review paperwork is not referred to the agency decision-maker. There is no evidence of oversight of the reviews or the reasons for decisions. Notifications of continuing approval have been issued by the office manager, who is not qualified to do so. While the organisation acknowledged this shortfall in June 2025 and said that a new system had been introduced, this had not been implemented before the inspection being announced.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision and appraisal, which helps managers to oversee staff practice. In contrast, supervision arrangements for the registered manager are insufficient. Supervision meetings have been infrequent and audit-driven, with no evidence of discussion or challenge. The actions from previous supervisions are not always reviewed. The responsible individual is not equipped to supervise social work practice, and senior managers have failed to arrange alternative provision for reflective supervision. Supervision fails to consider the manager’s individual support needs, well-being or personal performance, which may impact on her capacity to lead and sustain high-quality practice.

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good

Complaints and concerns are managed appropriately. Matters are investigated and actions identified where needed. The complainant is notified of the outcome in a timely manner.

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good

The agency’s approach to panel has been restructured to a regional model. This has been a well-planned change with the aim to increase flexibility and consistency across the wider organisation. Panel members are knowledgeable, and they receive an annual appraisal and complete training. Systems are in place to ensure effective communication between the agency and the panel chair.

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good

Feedback about the agency from foster carers and professionals is positive. Foster carers feel well supported, and placing social workers are confident in the care that their children are receiving. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 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 Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

If a fostering service provider decide to approve X as a foster parent they must—

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Requirement Due date

enter into a written agreement with X covering the matters specified in Schedule 5 (the “foster care agreement”). (Regulation 27 (5)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider must ensure that all foster carers have an up-to-date foster carer agreement and that it is updated following any change in approval. 12 December 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each approved foster carer is supervised by a named, appropriately qualified social worker who has meetings with the foster carer, including at least one unannounced visit a year. Furthermore, they must ensure that unannounced visits take place in the home environment and that records evidence that the home environment has been seen and whether it remains suitable for a child to be placed there. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 21.8)  The registered person should ensure that decisions about foster carers’ approval are made appropriately. The decision-maker is responsible for deciding whether a person and their household remain suitable to foster, and whether the terms of approval remain suitable, following each review of the foster carer’s approval. The decision should be based on the written report of the review; it must take account of any recommendation by the fostering panel (which must be provided on the

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Recommendations

occasion of the first review and may be provided for subsequent reviews) and any recommendation of the IRM. In particular, they must ensure that all foster carer annual reviews are considered by the agency decision-maker in a timely manner, and that only the agency decision-maker decides whether foster carers are suitable to continue to foster. (Assessment and approval of foster carers: Amendments to the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations, 2013, page 19, paragraph 2)  The registered person should ensure that suitable arrangements exist for professional supervision of the agency’s registered person. In particular, senior Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 7 managers must ensure that the registered manager is provided with regular, good-quality supervision and support to oversee their practice. Support should allow for reflection and learning. If the responsible individual is not qualified to

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Recommendations

provide practice supervision, then alternative arrangements must be in place. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 24.3)  The registered person should ensure that all staff’s work and all fostering activity is consistent with the 2011 Regulations and NMS and with the service’s policies and procedures. In particular, the registered person must ensure that monitoring tools are used effectively to identify gaps in foster carer supervisions, oversight of foster carer recordings, the quality of recording by staff and child-specific training for foster carers. Monitoring should provide for analysis of both data and quality of work. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 25.3)

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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 Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 8

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Fostering Solutions Ltd

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: michael.down@fosteringsolutions.com

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Inspectors

Vicky Smith, Social Care Inspector Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Laura Norcop, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions Ltd 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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