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Social care · Children's home inspection (SCCIF)

Children's Home run by Prosperity Children’s Services Limited in Lancashire

Inspected 20 Nov 2025 · published 31 Dec 2025 · URN 2808376

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Original PDF ↗

Summary

RI to be good

Nicola Rutherford

What we read, and from where

Click a reading to see it highlighted in the report.

  • Group AI-checked

    Prosperity Children’s Services Limited

  • Inspection date verified

    20 Nov 2025

  • Inspectors verified

    Nicola Rutherford

  • Helped and protected verified

    Requires improvement to be good

  • Leadership and management verified

    Inadequate

  • Overall effectiveness verified

    Requires improvement to be good

  • Name on report verified

    2808376

  • URN verified

    2808376

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of the report

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Hollow rings show the previous inspection, 2025.

  • OverallRI to be good
  • Helped and protectedRI to be good
  • Leadership and managementInadequate

13% of comparable inspections in the last three years were graded Requires improvement to be good (12,716 inspections).

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

−53Criticalmore positive than 11% of reports of this type graded Requires improvement to be good
OutstandingGoodRIInadequate

Reads more critically than most reports of this type graded Requires improvement to be good.

Markers show where typical reports of each grade sit.

Praisepositiveeffectivelysafeeffectiveunsafefailurespositivelytimely
Criticismnot alwaysnot consistentlyineffectiveinadequateconcernsharmnot yetat risk

How the report reads, start to finish

Every paragraph in order, sized by length. Tap one to see it on the page.

FindingsAbout the inspectionWhat needs to improve positive critical
  • Findings966w−60
  • What needs to improve448w−14

Strengths

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Concerns

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Next steps

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What the report dwells on

Topics by how often they come up, coloured by how they are described. Open one for an example.

Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages
10
Words of findings
1,413
shorter than usual (typical 1899)
Reading level
Fairly hard
Flesch 51, typical 50
Average sentence
16 words
Next steps
5
typical 8
Hedged sentences
10%
“some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 55%What needs to improve 25%About the inspection 20%

Full report text

Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 1 Registered provider: Prosperity Children’s Services Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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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: The home was judged as having serious and widespread concerns at an assurance inspection on 29 July 2025. Three compliance notices were issued under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000. These related to regulation 6 (the quality and purpose of care standard), regulation 12 (the protection of children standard), and regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 2 A monitoring visit took place on 1 September 2025. The provider had taken sufficient action to meet the notice in relation to regulation 6, but not sufficient action in relation to regulation 12 and 13. The notices were reissued.

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requires improvement to be good

The reports are published on the Ofsted website. Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/04/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 4

p.3

improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home, and one child has moved into the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

The child who lives at the home spoke positively about their experiences. The child wants to remain living there, enjoys the local area and has built positive relationships with staff. However, staff do not always build positive and meaningful relationships with children, despite support from a therapist. This indicates that staff may not always fully understand the children’s needs, reducing their ability to respond effectively. For one child, this led to an increase in incidents and resulted in them moving out of the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff support children to engage in informal learning when they do not have education provision in place. Staff engage well with professionals to support children’s education and remove barriers to learning. The manager is working closely with the child’s social worker to identify an appropriate education provision to meet their needs.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff support children to maintain relationships with their family as detailed in their plans. They support children to be prepared for seeing family members who they have not seen for a considerable period of time. This helps children to rebuild and maintain important family relationships.

p.4

improvement to be good

There has been improvement to the home environment. The house is welcoming and homely, and the child’s bedroom is personalised to their individual taste and interests.

p.4

improvement to be good

Moves out of the home are not always well planned. One child was taken to their new home by staff they did not have a relationship with. This does not support children experiencing a positive ending to their time at the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff do not have the skills or experience to meet all children’s needs effectively. For one child, this led to an increase in risk and incidents. These factors led to further disruption for the child when they had to move out.

p.4

improvement to be good

When there are concerns about children’s emotional well-being, staff ensure that there is an effective and timely multi-agency response to support them. However, staff do not consistently follow the strategies identified in children’s plans to protect them. For example, staff do not always seek medical attention swiftly or ensure that there are no unsafe items that could be used for self-harm. Leaders and managers did not identify this as a shortfall in practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 5 Risk assessments are written in a child-friendly way and detail children’s risks specific to their individual needs. However, the risk assessments do not always include strategies for staff to follow to keep children safe. Furthermore, staff do not always follow the children’s risk assessments consistently. For example, staff allowed a child to have access to a sharp item that can cause harm to themselves and others.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint. Leaders and managers respond to complaints and allegations against staff appropriately, taking timely action to ensure that all issues are addressed fairly and in accordance with statutory guidance. Children are kept informed about what is happening and what will happen next.

p.5

improvement to be good

Physical intervention is used to protect children and keep those around them safe. Children’s records evidence that this has been used as a last resort. However, staff do not consistently use effective de-escalation skills, which has led to some incidents being prolonged, causing damage to the home environment and increased aggression towards staff.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management arrangements at the home are ineffective. Since the last inspection, a new manager and responsible individual have been appointed. The manager has applied to register with Ofsted. However, the management structure remains unclear, as a decision has not been made about whether the manager’s post will be held solely or shared.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and review systems are ineffective. Shortfalls in staff practice are not consistently identified and addressed. This is a missed opportunity to support staff to reflect on and improve their practice. This means children do not always receive consistent and safe care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have attended training specific to the children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. However, this is not yet fully embedded into staff practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Supervision records do not always detail the issues staff raise and how they will be supported by leaders and managers. During the inspection, managers assured the inspector that appropriate support is provided to staff. However, they acknowledged that it is now always recorded.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all the requirements from the last inspection are met and have been restated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 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 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

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have appropriate training, skills, and knowledge to manage and effectively respond to all risks for children.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 19 January 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires, and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 19 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 7 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; and

p.6

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)(f)(h))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that monitoring systems are used to identify and address shortfalls in the quality-of-care children receive.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(b) (2)(iii))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children experience a positive and planned move in and out of the home. 19 January 2026

p.7

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that supervision records detail staff’s reflection of their practice and how they meet children’s needs, any issues raised and how they will be supported by managers. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 8 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: 2808376 9

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Prosperity Childrens Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Venus House, Mercury Rise, Altham Business Park, Altham, Accrington BB5 5BY

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Inspector

Nicola Rutherford, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2808376 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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