Children's home run by Lancashire County Council in Preston

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 1 SC035439

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Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to three children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home. Two of the children were spoken to by the inspectors.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 3 September 2025

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

Risks to children have significantly increased. Decisions about which children should live together are poorly considered and have placed children at significant risk of harm.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff do not take effective action or follow children’s risk assessments, leading to multiple incidents of children going missing from the home, placing them at significant risk of harm while missing.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s daily routines are poor. Staff have failed to establish and maintain routines that promote education and meaningful activity. As a result, children are frequently awake until the early hours of the morning, leading to irregular attendance and poor engagement at school.

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Findings from the inspection

The home environment is negatively impacted by having locks on some doors such as the lounge, gym and pantry. These restrictions compromise the homeliness of the setting and significantly limit children’s access to positive experiences and activities essential for their well-being.

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Findings from the inspection

There have been significant changes in the staff team, including the addition of 11 new members of staff since June 2025. This level of staff turnover has created instability and disrupted continuity of care, compromising the ability to build secure and trusting relationships essential for children’s safety and well-being.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers have failed to consistently identify poor practice or take timely action to address this. While investigations into identified concerns have been thorough, not all required actions have been completed. Furthermore, managers have not challenged effectively poor practice by specific staff members, leaving children exposed to ongoing risk.

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Findings from the inspection

There are gaps in staff training, including safeguarding and child sexual exploitation, despite the known risks to children. Substance misuse training has not been completed by all staff and there is no evidence of team discussions promoting professional curiosity. These gaps in training significantly compromise staff’s ability to protect children and leave them at increased risk of harm.

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Findings from the inspection

Management oversight of records is inconsistent, with some documents undated, unsigned or written inappropriately, reducing accountability. In some cases, managers have minimised serious concerns despite clear warning signs, such as a child expressing intent to go missing, which significantly compromises safeguarding. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 3 There is no formal system of supervision of agency staff. This compromises accountability and the ability to monitor staff practice effectively. Although supervision sessions with permanent members of staff occur regularly and include discussions on well-being and induction, their quality and impact are inconsistent. Staff have reported during supervision that colleagues have made inappropriate comments about children, yet these poor attitudes remain unchallenged.

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Findings from the inspection

Agency night staff do not monitor children effectively. In one instance, an agency worker recorded the wrong child’s name in the evening log, demonstrating a lack of preparation and competence to provide safe care.

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Findings from the inspection

The staff duty rota is incomplete, with some staff names missing. This lack of clarity reduces accountability and makes it difficult to ensure safe and consistent care for children.

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Findings from the inspection

A case review was held on 18 November 2025 where it was agreed that compliance notices under regulation 12, the protection of children standard and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, would be issued. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/05/2025 Full Inadequate 23/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/06/2024 Full Inadequate Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 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 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 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers and staff must follow safeguarding procedures when children go missing from home.

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Requirement Due date

All known risks to children must be thoroughly assessed to prevent the placement of children together where this could escalate risk.

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Requirement Due date

All staff must complete safeguarding training to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to safeguard children effectively. 12 December Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 6 *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 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

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)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they implement an effective monitoring system so that there is an improved level of oversight and evaluation of significant incidents.

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Requirement Due date

Staff must work together as a team and provide continuity of care to children.

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Requirement Due date

Staff must understand their roles and responsibilities to ensure that they provide safe and effective care to children. 12 December

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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; 12 December Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must advocate on behalf of children who are not in an appropriate educational placement, by challenging and escalating concerns with the placing authority and virtual school.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that when children are not in receipt of education, they are provided with suitable, structured activities to help them to sustain or regain their confidence.

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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

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed; (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c)) 12 December Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 8 In particular, the registered person must ensure that children have structured plans and routines each day.

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises;

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Requirement Due date

and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that locks on internal doors are removed. 12 December

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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; (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home’s rotas contain a record of actual hours worked and contain staff full names. 12 December

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and ensure that staff communicate with one another all important information relating to children living in the home. This includes the effective use of handover time when staff are starting and ending shift. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures, and that everyone working in the home understand their Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 9 roles and responsibilities including adhering to professional boundaries for the benefit of the children living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 10

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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 78, Preston PR1 8XJ

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Inspectors

Cathy Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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