Help Plus

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 1 Help Plus

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Registered provider: Ziche Limited T/A Help Plus

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service was registered on 6 November 2024 and is operated by a private provider in the North-East, Yorkshire and Humber region. It can accommodate up to 12 individuals in three shared or group-living premises that are limited to accommodating looked-after children or care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, two looked-after children aged 16 or 17 were being accommodated.

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provider

The service does not currently have a manager registered with Ofsted. The current service manager applied to become the registered service manager on 12 November 2025, and this application is being considered.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 17 November 2025 and started that day. The inspector was on site from 19 to 20 November 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 admit children outside of the registration conditions of supported accommodation. Children are admitted with complex needs that the service cannot meet.

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Summary of findings

Children are not always safeguarded effectively. Child protection information is not consistently shared with partner agencies. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 2 Leaders and managers do not implement robust procedures for the recruitment of staff. They appoint staff who do not have the skills, knowledge or experience to support children effectively. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not have adequate oversight of the service. They accept children with complex support needs who are not appropriate for supported accommodation. For example, one child was subject to a deprivation of liberty order at the point of admission.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not support all children effectively. Not all children make progress and have a range of positive experiences. Several placements have ended prematurely and within three months of commencement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers provide high levels of support for some children, which is inconsistent with supported accommodation. For example, one child receives support during the day and night. The child is often accompanied by two members of staff when they are in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers sometimes remove risks rather than support children to learn how to manage them. For example, all children receive their weekly allowances in several instalments. Furthermore, children in shared accommodation do not have front-door keys. These practices do not help children to gain the independent living skills that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers take sufficient steps to ensure that children are supported to access education, training or employment. Staff support children to register with dentists, doctors and other primary healthcare services. They refer children to access specialist healthcare agencies, such as mental health and substance misuse services.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not always keep children safe. They do not consistently take appropriate action to keep children safe when they are in vulnerable situations. They do not always share important safeguarding information with the local authority designated officer when there are allegations that staff have harmed children.

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How well children are helped and protected

One child said that they felt safe and were positive about the service. However, another child did not feel well supported, did not like their home, and tried not to spend time there.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that children’s plans incorporate their identified vulnerabilities and risk-management strategies. Children’s plans do not consistently record all the actions that staff will take to help the children to stay safe and make progress. For example, the health section of one child’s support plan was not completed even though the child has several health-related support needs. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 4 Leaders and managers do not ensure that children’s risk-management arrangements are appropriate for supported accommodation. For example, one child’s risk- management plan requires them to always have two members of staff in their home and states that they should not leave the home without staff support.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers fail to ensure that children are well protected. One child said that they slept in an alleyway as staff did not respond appropriately when they were missing from home. The child’s placement ended because of this incident. Furthermore, another child’s placement ended when a member of staff failed to de- escalate an incident.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that they implement robust processes for the recruitment of staff. They fail to ensure that appropriate recruitment arrangements are in place when family members apply for employment in the organisation. Leaders and managers do not always recruit staff with the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to perform the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leadership and management of the service is inconsistent. There have been three service managers from the date that the service was registered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers accept children who, at the point of referral, are not ready to live in supported accommodation. This means that some placements are outside the scope of the supported accommodation regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers sometimes implement staffing models that are inconsistent with supported accommodation provision. These include high staffing levels to supervise children regularly due to their complex needs, including throughout the night.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers use a range of methods to monitor the quality of the service. However, quality assurance processes are not fully effective, as they do not identify some weaknesses in children’s plans, for example. Furthermore, leaders and managers do not complete a quality of support review at least once every six months. This is a missed opportunity to reflect on areas of identified strengths and weaknesses and the experiences of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not consistently inform Ofsted, without delay, when serious events occur. They do not ensure that notifications contain sufficient detail. For example, notifications have failed to identify that child protection enquires have commenced on two occasions. This limits the regulator’s ability to maintain oversight and ensure that responses to serious incidents protect and support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers notify the local authority designated officer (LADO) when they become aware of allegations of staff misconduct. However, these notifications lack detail, and leaders and managers do not always submit further information when they are asked to. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 5 Leaders and managers ensure that staff receive a wide range of training that helps them to understand children’s needs. Staff said that they found this training beneficial. One member of staff said that the leadership and management training had helped them supervise staff effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff said that they receive good-quality supervision and are well supported by managers. However, leaders and managers are unable to evidence that all supervisions sessions are held within the organisation’s policy timescales. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 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 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 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

have 24-hour access to help in a crisis or emergency situation;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar and act in accordance with child protection policies;

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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)(ii)(iii)(iv)(f)(i)((iv)) 18 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— 18 January 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 7 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform;

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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)(c)(e)(f)) 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 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)) 18 January 2026

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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; 18 January 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 8 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. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)) The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review ("a quality of support review") at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of support review, the registered person must produce a written report setting out the actions the registered person intends to take as a result of that quality of support review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the review report to the CIECSS within 28 days beginning with the day on which the report is completed, and make a copy of it available on request to each child’s accommodating authority. 18 January 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 9 (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2) (3)) *These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: Help Plus 10

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Ziche Limited T/A Help Plus

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 17 Brook Street, Wakefield WF1 1QW

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Inspector

Steve James, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Help Plus 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 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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