Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. It is part of a partnership with a placing authority where children receive tailored support from staff experienced in mental health, therapy and social work.

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Information about this children’s home

A registered manager has been in post since December 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/04/2024 Full Good 18/07/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 3

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improvement to be good

Overall, the experience of children living in this home, the progress they make and the care that they receive require improvement. Over recent weeks, leaders and managers’ recent decision to admit a child into the home has had a significant adverse impact on the quality and managerial oversight of the care provided.

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. The child did not want to speak to the inspectors. Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home. One of these children’s moves was unplanned.

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences and progress in the home are inconsistent. Two children who previously lived at the home made good progress from their starting points. Staff successfully supported one child to learn independent living skills and to manage their behaviours safely. In contrast, staff have struggled to support the current child, who recently moved into the home, to settle.

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improvement to be good

Children do not always receive care from a team of consistent staff who they have been able to build relationships with. Previously, children were cared for by a stable team of staff who they had strong relationships with. However, more recently, several members of staff have left the home. This has resulted in the current child being cared for generally by agency staff and staff from other children’s homes owned by the provider. This has hindered the child’s ability to develop trusting relationships with staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of children attending their educational provision and do well. Staff have challenged schools to help advocate for children to have the right educational support to best meet their needs. When children struggle to attend their provision, staff support them to understand the benefits of learning and the positive impact this can have on their futures.

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improvement to be good

The child that remains living in the home has been supported to have safe independent time in the community with their friends and enjoy activities that match their interests and hobbies such as fishing. This helps the child maintain a sense of their own identity and enhances their physical and emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

Recently, staff have not always intervened successfully during significant and challenging incidents to keep children safe. Instead, staff have been known to lock themselves in rooms and call the police to help manage children’s behaviour. This places children at risk of criminalisation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 4 The recording of some significant safeguarding incidents is poor. The recording does not always include vital information. It conflicts with information in other records and, in some cases, incidents have not been recorded at all or completed on the wrong form. This does not help to provide a clear account of what has happened in incidents to ensure guidance is followed, or help the manager to oversee and develop safeguarding practice.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers understand the shortfalls identified in safeguarding practice and recognise the negative impact this has had on children’s safety and experience. They are in the process of establishing an experienced staff team that understands the current child’s vulnerabilities, and equipping staff with the skills and resilience necessary to safely respond to children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff take time to help children to understand risks and how they can keep themselves safe. Staff support children to understand the boundaries and any restrictions put in place for their safety. Staff successfully support children to implement strategies to reduce risks. Children learn to become independent and responsible for their safety in preparation for adulthood.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond well to incidents where children have gone missing from the home. They promptly follow the child’s individual protocol to ensure the child returns home safely. Children’s risk assessments are updated with additional new known information, to inform staff how they can better protect the child in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Serious failings have been identified relating to the sufficiency and skills of staff and the leaders and manager’s oversight of the home. These significant shortfalls have had a detrimental impact on children’s experiences and the staff’s ability to provide safe and consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The partnership formed between the provider and placing authority, as part of a wider project, has not ensured that only children whose needs can be met by the staff alongside existing children have been admitted to the home. This led to an increase in serious and challenging incidents. Consequently, one child who had been living in the home for several months and who was making progress had to move out for their own safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff are suitably resilient and skilled to meet children’s needs, keep them safe and provide consistency of care. In addition, staff have not felt supported by leaders and managers during and following these incidents. Consequently, several staff members have chosen to leave their employment. This has resulted in an overreliance on the use of agency staff and staff from other homes owned by the provider to support the children. This means the current child is regularly being cared for by staff they do not know. This is having a detrimental impact on helping the child to settle, build relationships and feel a sense of belonging. The provider has made Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 5 the decision to pause new admissions to the home while staff are recruited and upskilled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management oversight of the home are poor and ineffective. Leaders and managers have not always taken sufficient action to identify, understand and address shortfalls in staff practice that could have had a significant negative impact on the safety of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality assurance of records by leaders and managers is weak. There has recently been no oversight to ensure that records are sufficiently detailed and correctly completed. As a result, not all records evidence the care and support that the children receive. In addition, it is not always evidenced how leaders and managers identify learning to inform practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have recruited new staff to fill the vacant positions in the staff team. They are now in the process of implementing a plan to bring about stability and consistency. Robust safer recruitment checks are in place to help the manager determine that candidates are suitable to work with vulnerable children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers ensure that the physical environment is well maintained. Prompt action is taken to repair any damage to the property to ensure that it is safe and that broken items are quickly replaced so that the home remains a welcoming place to live. Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 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 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

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

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(x)(xi)) 12 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 7 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

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

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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;

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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)(b) (2)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should use monitoring and review systems to ensure that records are accurate and can be used to share learning with staff and children, and that there is a sufficient, skilled and consistent staff team in place to meet the needs of the children. 12 December 2025

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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 12 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 8 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i))

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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: 2719389 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Inspectors

Gary Turney, Social Care Inspector Melissa McMillian, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2719389 10 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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