Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 1 SC039683 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a local authority and is registered to provide care for up to six children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager of the home who has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/08/2024 Full requires improvement to be good 12/12/2023 Full requires improvement to be good 12/09/2022 Full good 05/05/2021 Full good Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

At the time of this inspection, six children were living at the home. The manager has not assessed the ability of the staff team to meet the evolving needs of all of the children together. Staff demonstrate an inconsistent understanding of the steps they must take to ensure that children can live together safely. As a result, children’s experiences of living in this home vary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s plans are not personalised to individual children. They do not provide staff with clarity about the steps to take to manage children’s behaviour safely. This has resulted in staff using strategies to respond to children’s behaviour that are not in line with children’s individual needs. In some instances, this has contributed to an escalation in risks and resulted in the police being used to manage children’s behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s experiences of accessing education are inconsistent. When children do not attend school, staff do not ensure that children have the routines or resources needed to support a return to school. This does not encourage children to develop a positive attitude to learning or enable children to reach their potential. For example, staff did not provide one child with a school uniform. In contrast, some children attend college as set out in their individual care plans and are ambitious for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not provide children with consistent routines to support a healthy lifestyle. Three children raised concerns with inspectors about their sleep being adversely affected by other children. The children raised concerns about the impact this has on their health and their engagement with education. The manager has not taken effective action to resolve this quickly. Staff support children to attend routine health appointments and provide children with opportunities to engage in exercise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff provide opportunities for children to share their views about the care that they receive, and children know how to make a complaint. However, children’s complaints are not always acted on or fully investigated. Children do not feel that their views are listened to or taken seriously, and they do not understand how their views are responded to. One child told inspectors that ‘there is no point [in making complaints], nothing changes.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff help children to make positive memories by taking them on holidays and encouraging them to access a range of activities. This enables children to pursue their own interests and develop confidence. One social worker identified that, as a result of the relationships staff build with children, one child identifies the staff team as ‘family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff work hard to build relationships with children, and inspectors observed children sharing warm interactions with the manager and staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 4

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

There are serious failings in safeguarding practice, which have meant that risks to children have not been responded to effectively. Staff do not understand their safeguarding responsibilities.

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

Children’s plans are not always updated following significant incidents or changes in children’s needs. As a result, staff do not understand what is expected of them. Staff do not consistently follow children’s safety plans. This means that risks to children are not fully understood, and children are exposed to a risk of harm.

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

Managers did not assess the suitability of the location of the children’s home following threats made to a child who lives at the home following the home address being made publicly available on social media. The manager did not take actions to assess the potential risk of these threats to all of the children living in the home.

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

Managers and leaders do not always respond to disclosures by children with sufficient rigour, or take immediate steps to ensure that children are safeguarded. For example, one child alleged that they had experienced unwanted sexual contact from another child living in the home. This disclosure was not recorded in children’s records and immediate steps were not taken to keep these children safe. As a result, children are exposed to unsafe situations.

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

Staff do not support children to understand how to keep themselves safe. The quality and timeliness of staff conversations and support to children to understand risk are inconsistent. For example, staff did not support one child to understand the dangers of carrying a weapon. When staff search children’s bedrooms as a strategy to reduce risk, staff do not ensure that children know when this is happening or that children understand the reason for items being removed from their bedroom. This does not help children to understand risk or contribute to decisions that are made about their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The new manager and responsible individual manage the home. Management oversight and monitoring systems are ineffective. As a result, leaders and managers do not have sufficient oversight of the care provided to children. Staff vacancies and sickness in the management team have reduced the managers’ capacity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff from other children’s homes and agency staff are used to cover staff vacancies. This has meant that children are not always cared for by a familiar adult. Records do not accurately show who has worked at the home or the full names of the agency staff used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality of record-keeping is poor. Records of incidents are unclear and fail to provide an accurate account of what action has been taken. This does not ensure that there is a clear record of decisions made about children’s care. Leaders and managers have not identified or responded to shortfalls in staff practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 5 Staff enjoy working in this home and feel supported by managers. Staff access regular supervision and team meetings, which provide them with opportunities to learn. Staff access a range of training opportunities. However, managers have missed opportunities to identify learning for staff following incidents to ensure that improvements are made in staff practice. As a result, children are exposed to continued risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from external professionals is that managers share important information about children in a timely way and contribute to planning meetings. Leaders and managers nurture positive working relationships with external professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers took immediate steps during the inspection to safeguard children and improve the management arrangements for the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons 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 premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all known risks to children are assessed.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s plans contain clear strategies for staff to follow to reduce risks to children. 9 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 7 The registered person must assess potential risks to all children from people of concern in the local community. This includes the address of the home has being made public.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there is clear guidance for staff to ensure that they take effective action to manage these risks.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff understand and act in accordance with children’s risk management plans.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review significant incidents and update children’s risk management plan, as necessary.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that they help children to understand any potential risks they may face. This specifically includes the dangers of knife crime, work regarding consent and healthy relationships and how to help children develop and maintain positive relationships with each other. *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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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; 9 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 8 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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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)(e)(f)(g)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that managers monitor and review incidents.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must identify and address any shortfalls in staff practice and record-keeping.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that there are systems in place to monitor and review management arrangements so that these remain safe and effective for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are cared for by a consistent staff team.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff have the knowledge and skills to meet children’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that if children complain information must be recorded and investigated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are informed of the outcome of their complaint.

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training, and employment; 5 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 9 promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities, and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to access education in line with their individual plans. This includes ensuring that children have the resources they need to engage fully in education.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children who do not attend formal education are supported to engage in structured learning in line with their individual care plans, and have routines in place that support a return back to formal education.

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is an accurate record of all staff working in the home. 5 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 10 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: SC039683 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lancashire County Council, PO Box 100, Preston PR1 OLD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claire Rose-Dudley

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Inspectors

Sally Griffiths, Social Care Inspector Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC039683 12 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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