Daystar Care Services Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 1 Daystar Care Services Ltd Registered provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is operated by a private provider in the East Midlands. The provider can accommodate up to three individuals in a shared or group living home that is not limited to accommodating looked-after children or care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the monitoring visit, there were no individuals accommodated.

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provider

The service manager and nominated individual registered with Ofsted at the same time as the provider in October 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 20 October 2025 and started that day. The inspector was on site on 22 October 2025 and 23 October 2025.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

Children are treated with dignity and respect. Children speak highly of the support that they received.

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Summary of findings

Staff work hard with the multi-agency team that works with the children. They communicate well with external services

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers lack sufficient knowledge to ensure that they report serious incidents to Ofsted.

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Summary of findings

The referral and admission process does not enable leaders and managers to assess and understand the needs or vulnerabilities of children effectively. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 2 The manager does not challenge the placing local authority or relevant external professionals when they have concerns about the plans for children.

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Summary of findings

The manager was unable to locate important records. Some records were unavailable because they did not exist and others due to disorganised or ineffective recording systems.

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Summary of findings

The quality of the environment is welcoming, homely, safe and secure. A stable, consistent workforce promotes children’s sense of belonging and aids with settling into accommodation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are supported to develop life skills to prepare for adulthood. This has helped children to move on to independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are encouraged to develop and maintain strong, supportive and safe social relationships with friends and family. Children have suitable access to technology to help them keep in touch with family and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The quality of support plans and risk assessments is inconsistent. Some could not be located on the provider’s recording systems. Some were poorly recorded and provided limited guidance for staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff spend time with the children to complete focused sessions with them. Brief records are made of these sessions. However, the children’s voice, as well as details of the interaction, impact and effectiveness of the session is missing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff are ambitious for children and support them to do well in their education, training or employment. Children enjoy access to a range of social, educational and recreational opportunities, including activities in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have access to universal services and specialist services, such as child and adolescent mental health services, when they need them. Arrangements for meeting children’s health needs are safe and effective. However, children are not actively supported to manage their medication independently following a crisis. This limits their understanding of how to manage risks and progress to independence.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers report most significant incidents to Ofsted in a timely manner. However, on some occasions they have not done so. Retrospective notifications were submitted during the inspection.

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How well children are helped and protected

The manager generally understands risks and issues relating to individual children. However, risk assessments or support plans are not updated with relevant information following incidents. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 3 Leaders and managers have not ensured that risk management strategies are always appropriate or proportionate. Some restrictions have been in place despite there being no known risks, for example the use of window restrictors and the monitoring of the use of sharps and cleaning products. Furthermore, leaders and managers did not challenge the placing authority or other professionals about restrictions linked to a child’s health needs. There was no plan considered with professionals and the child about how to reduce staff supervision and promote independence.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff escalate safeguarding matters appropriately within the organisation. This includes contacting the police and placing authorities.

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How well children are helped and protected

The accommodation is safe and secure. As part of completing location assessments, the manager consults with external agencies, exploring changes or patterns of local risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has a generally good oversight of the service. Their internal quality of support monitoring review is clear and evaluative. However, other internal quality assurance processes lacked evaluation or analysis. This has resulted in missed opportunities to identify inconsistency in the recording of assessments, plans and focused work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have not shown sufficient curiosity when reviewing referral information. Their approach does not enable them to assess and understand the needs or vulnerabilities of children effectively. This increases the potential of children being admitted to the service whose needs are likely to be beyond the scope of supported accommodation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager is invested in the staff team. Staff feel valued. Staff said they feel positive about management and the leadership and can raise any concerns. Staff stability helps provides consistency for the children in their homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff receive regular supervision. This gives staff the opportunity to reflect, discuss their well-being and consider their development and progress. However, the supervision sessions received by the manager are not of the same quality. This reduces the potential to identify strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers recognise that their recording of information is fragmented. They plan to implement a new electronic system where the children’s files will be uploaded and stored in one place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have not ensured that they have updated local authority documentation in respect of the children. In addition, leaders and managers have not obtained relevant reports of meetings with the external professionals that have Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 4 taken place following incidents. This increases the potential for ineffective risk management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff have access to training which is valued by them and gives them the skills to work effectively and safely with children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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 children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child;

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Requirement Due date

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Requirement Due date

engage and work with the accommodating authority if the registered person has concerns or if the child’s support needs to be changed, including where that change may mean that the child requires more intensive support;

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Requirement Due date

in the event that the registered person or a member of staff considers that an accommodating authority or a relevant person is failing to provide the support set out in a child’s relevant plans, make representations, or, as the case may be, enable staff to make representations, to the accommodating authority or relevant person with a view to ensuring that the child’s needs are met; 9 January 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 6 ensure a plan for support is in place to support the child to develop the resilience and skills required to transition out of supported accommodation when the child is ready to live more independently. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(f)(h)(k))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry);

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Requirement Due date

there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

any other individuals or organisations who or which have been notified;

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

is made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f) (4)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 5 November 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 7 The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) in relation to each child accommodated by the supported accommodation undertaking which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 2,

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 9 January 2026

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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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(f)(g)) 9 January 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff work closely with the accommodating authority to review the ongoing suitability of the placement or arrangement and assess the evolving circumstances of the child to ensure that the service continues to provide them with high-quality support that meets their needs and keeps them safe. If it becomes apparent that the child’s needs are such that they require, on a longer-term basis, high levels of care from their placement rather than the support that can be delivered in supported accommodation, the provider should alert the accommodating authority to consider whether the child’s placement in supported accommodation is right for them. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 35)  The registered person should ensure that for young people who may need additional support with their medications, staff support the young person to

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Recommendations

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 8 ensure safe medication practices, such as providing a lockable medication box, helping the young person set alarms or reminders to take their medications, and so on. In some instances, if the young person requests it, staff may assist with the storing and managing of certain medicines if this assistance is in support of the young person’s journey to do this within increasing autonomy in the future and stay safe while doing so. However, if a young person cannot manage their own ongoing medication needs at all independently, it is likely that a higher level of care is needed and supported accommodation is not the right type of setting to meet the young person’s health needs and keep them safe. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, pages 38 to 39)  The registered person should ensure that the design of the accommodation as

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Recommendations

well as the use of hazard-avoidance practices reflect the characteristics of the young people accommodated in the specific setting. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 24)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Langelihle Mlilo

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Inspector

Shelley Chowdhury, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Daystar Care Services Ltd 10 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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