Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 1 Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd Registered provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a private provider. The service can accommodate up to 23 children and young people, in five shared occupancy homes.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 16 children. Three shared occupancy homes were visited.

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provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since the provider registered in July 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 29 September 2025 and started that day. The inspector was on site on 1 and 2 October 2025.

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Outcome

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings. The next inspection will be within approximately six months.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not gather adequate information about children’s individual needs before agreeing placements, which compromises children’s safety.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not follow safe recruitment practices. They fail to assure themselves that staff are safe or suitable to work with children.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers admit children outside of the registration conditions of supported accommodation. Some children are admitted with needs that are too high for supported accommodation. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 2 Leaders and managers place children with complex needs in shared housing without adequately considering the needs of other children living there. This puts children in the accommodation at risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers fail to obtain sufficient information about children’s risks and needs before children move into the service. They accept children with needs that the service cannot meet. As a result, not all children make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from living in a comfortable environment that is decorated to a good standard. However, staff practice does not always ensure that the environment is homely. For example, managers use excessive signs on internal walls and doors, and children do not have unrestricted access to all parts of their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children know how to make a complaint, and leaders and managers act quickly to resolve them. Most children feel happy and safe as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff are ambitious for children with regards to their education, training and employment. However, only just over half of the children access any form of education, training or employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff ensure that children register with dentists, doctors and other primary healthcare services when they move in. They signpost children to specialist healthcare agencies, such as substance misuse services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff know the people who are significant in children’s lives, and they value children’s existing relationships. Staff work closely with families to ensure that children’s needs and difficulties are understood and that support is coordinated effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff form strong, positive relationships with some children. Children are happy where they live and can identify trusted adults they would approach for help or advice.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff do not always ensure that children’s plans clearly identify individual vulnerabilities or set out actions required to reduce risk. As a result, children’s needs are not always addressed, and risks remain unmanaged. For example, one child was at serious risk of harm due to their increased substance misuse.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff fail to share information consistently with other agencies to keep children safe. For instance, one child told a member of staff that he owed a local drug dealer money. Staff did not share this information with social workers or police, and the manager did not update the location risk assessment to reflect the concern. This compromised all children’s safety in the accommodation. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 3 Leaders and managers do not take prompt or effective action when risks to children are identified. For example, the registered manager was made aware of one child’s alleged history of sexual assaults. He served them with two weeks’ notice but kept the child placed in shared accommodation during this period. This meant that other children in the accommodation did not feel safe and placed them at risk of harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not consistently notify Ofsted of all significant events. This hinders regulatory oversight of how effectively the provider safeguards children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers fail to implement robust recruitment practices. For example, they do not consistently check if staff have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate. As a result, they cannot be assured that all staff are suitable to work with children.

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How well children are helped and protected

When children are missing from home, there is a well-coordinated response to reduce the risk of harm. Staff notify the police and the child’s placing authority. When children are found, staff check on their well-being and discuss why they went missing from home. This helps children to feel supported when they return home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is a permanent and suitably experienced registered service manager in post. However, they recognise that they are not always focused on their management duties due to covering support work with children. This affects their ability to manage the service effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not thoroughly review information contained in a child’s referral before allowing them to move in. For example, one child’s referral form clearly identified serious risks that were overlooked by the manager. This resulted in a child feeling unsafe in their own home and required an unplanned change of placement for another child. Leaders and managers do not operate the service in line with their statement of purpose. This places children and staff in situations they are not equipped to manage safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not monitor the service effectively. This means that they do not identify shortfalls in staff recruitment and practice. This affects children’s experiences and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The service has a stable staff team, which helps to provide some children with continuity of support. Staff attend regular training and team meetings. However, leaders and managers do not ensure that staff supervision takes place within the timeframe of their own policy. When supervision does take place, it is not reflective of practice or focused on the needs of children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 4

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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 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

lead and manage the supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

implement recruitment practices that ensure staff are suitable to work with children and to keep them safe from harm;

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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. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to all children’s needs being carefully assessed before they are accommodated by the service so that only children ready for supported accommodation live there. 28 November 2025

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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— 28 November 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 5 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. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(b)(c)(f))

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Requirement Due date

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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

work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies, and share information where relevant to keep children safe. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(a)(i)(f)(iv)) 28 November 2025

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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

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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(b)(f)) 28 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that supported accommodation for children is homely, and settings should seek as much as possible to maintain a domestic rather than an ‘institutional’ impression. Children should be able to access all shared areas of the setting unless there are specific reasons why this would not be the case. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 29)  The registered person should ensure that they review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the supported accommodation and take into consideration any new risks that may arise. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 28)  The registered person should ensure that they have systems in place so that all staff, including the registered service manager, receive supervision of their practice from a suitably skilled and experienced professional, which allows them

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Recommendations

to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children accommodated in the setting. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 51)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Andrew Ramsey

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: Info@lifeskillsupport.com

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Inspector

Amie Pearson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Life Skills Supporting Accommodation Ltd 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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