Children's Home run by Williams Welfare Limited in Bedford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 1 Registered provider: Williams Welfare Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The privately-run home provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since January 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/04/2024 Full Good 06/06/2023 Full Good 24/05/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 3

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inadequate

The shortfalls identified in help and protection and the leadership and management of the home have affected the children’s overall experiences. This has resulted in an overall judgement of inadequate.

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inadequate

Since the last inspection, 5 children have moved in, and 3 children have moved out of the home. Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection, both children spoke with the inspectors.

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inadequate

Leaders and managers have not always ensured that staff have the appropriate skills and experience to meet the children’s needs. This resulted in an increased number of police call outs to manage children’s behaviour. One child moved from the home suddenly. The manager acknowledged that on occasions police assistance was not required and that the staff were not suitably prepared to care for children with complex needs.

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inadequate

Children have positive relationships with some staff. The staff try to ensure that children enjoy time outside the home. Children attend activities that they enjoy and speak positively about these. One child said that the best thing about the home is the activities. Staff try to encourage the children to engage in education however, their attendance and engagement is sporadic.

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inadequate

Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their tastes, and one child has their artwork on their bedroom walls.

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inadequate

When appropriate the staff support children to see their families. This time is meaningful and helps children to maintain links with those who are important to them. Feedback from parents and professionals is positive.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

One child had an altercation with a member of staff, described by the child as a physical altercation. The child told the inspector that the manager knew about this incident as another staff member witnessed it and intervened. The manager said that they were aware of this. However, leaders and managers have failed to take appropriate action when a child made allegations of abuse. When allegations are made against staff, leaders and managers lack professional curiosity. Leaders and managers have failed to consult with the local authority designated officer following allegations. Failing to follow safeguarding procedures leaves children at risk of significant harm. In addition to this, leaders and managers did not notify Ofsted of the allegations. Failure to notify Ofsted reduces Ofsted’s ability to monitor safeguards at the home effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 4 The home has two fire exits, the front and back door. Staff keylock the doors at

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

night, this means anyone without a key including children cannot exit the building at night in event of a fire without the keyholder opening the door for them. Furthermore, the back door leads into a small garden that has two gates that are pad locked. Children do not have the code to unlock the gates. Therefore, they cannot leave the garden to access the fire assembly point. During the inspection, the manager took steps to remedy this. However, leaders and managers have not ensured fire exits are always accessible to everyone at all times.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that safer recruitment checks are always completed. One staff member did not have appropriate pre-employment suitability checks before they started working at the home. Managers had not attempted to verify the staff member’s reasons for leaving a previous role that involved working with vulnerable children. Failure to ensure that safer recruitment checks are completed leaves children at risk of unsafe people caring for them.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

There have been no complaints from children. Physical interventions are rare, when they have occurred, they have been necessary and proportionate. Missing-from- home incidents are managed well and are reducing in frequency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A suitably qualified and experienced manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024. The registered manager has been away from the home on extended leave since May 2025. During this period, the home was managed by an interim manager from May 2025 to September 2025 before the operations manager took over as interim manager in September 2025. Neither manager applied to register with Ofsted within specified time frames. The interim manager was present during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leaders have not ensured effective management oversight of the service. As a result, children have not received consistency, and staff have not delivered good- quality care and support to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff have faced difficult situations, and some staff have shown resilience. However, leaders and managers have been ineffective in supporting, monitoring and overseeing staff to enable them to deliver consistent and safe care. The manager is not consistently present at the home. This lack of management presence is having an impact on staff. One staff member said, ‘we need a manager who is present. Sometimes incidents happen and you just don’t know what to do, so you need the support and guidance from the manager.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that they have sufficient staff to provide safe and good-quality care for the children. The home frequently uses, and heavily relies on, agency staff. However, these staff do not receive supervision sessions. Furthermore, staff do not receive appropriate inductions. This means opportunities Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 5 are missed to support staff and their development. Despite poor inductions, on some occasions, staff who are in their probation are left to work with agency staff who do not know the children well. This can leave the staff and children vulnerable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The independent person visits the home monthly. However, the visitor often does not gain feedback from parents and external agencies. This means that opportunities are potentially missed to incorporate important feedback into the assessment of the quality of care and development of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have reviewed the location and premises of the home. However, they have failed to consult with relevant external agencies. This limits the scope for assessing risks to children in the wider community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have reviewed the home’s statement of purpose. However, the statement of purpose does not contain all required information including details of the interim manager. In addition to this the home’s workforce development plan does not contain any information about the interim manager or their qualifications and experience. Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 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

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)(v)(vi)(vii)) 19 January

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 19 January

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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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 19 January Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 7 ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d))

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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 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 staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(f)) 19 January

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(b)) 19 January

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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 the home complies with relevant health and safety legislations. In particular, the registered person should ensure fire exits Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 8 remain accessible at all times. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that as set out in regulations 31-33, they are responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. In particular, the registered person should ensure that if a person has previously worked in a position involving work with children or vulnerable adults, they verify so far as reasonably practicable the reason why the employment or position ended. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. In particular, the registered person should ensure that when conducting the review, they consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s workforce plan is updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and is used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the workforce plan contains accurate

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Recommendations

information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that the following elements of the workforce plan should be included in the Statement of Purpose: (in accordance with Schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20)) the staffing structure; experience and qualifications of staff. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose includes staff experience and qualifications, including the managers. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.10)  The registered person should ensure that they actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulation 44) to ensure continuous improvement. In particular the registered person should ensure that in accordance with regulation

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Recommendations

44, they help the independent person if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 9

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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: 2643709 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Williams Welfare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 81 Mount Pleasant, Ruislip HA4 9HQ

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Inspectors

Anver Rose, Social Care Inspector Sithembinkosi Mzila, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2643709 11 and inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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