Children's home run by Middlesbrough Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2567557 1 Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by the local authority. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home. Both children spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The responsible individual post has been vacant since September 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 29 January 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2567557 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2025 Full Good 08/01/2024 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Good 18/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2567557 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move to the home are given time to settle, build relationships and make progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel involved in the decision-making about their care. Staff consult with children regularly to understand what they would like to change and how they feel. Children are asked about the rules of the home, what staff could improve and if they are being listened to. Children say they ‘feel settled’, ‘get on with staff’ and ‘like living at the home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to re-engage with formal education. Staff organise educational activities at home and maintain a formal daily structure when children are not in school. The manager works with the virtual school, local authority and education providers to organise home support and develop reintegration plans. As a result, children are making progress with their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have their health needs met. Children are supported to overcome barriers and attend their routine health appointments. Staff advocate for children to receive home visits and encourage children to engage with services. As a result, children now have their immunisations up to date, are accessing mental health services and can be assessed and treated at the hospital.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive specialist support when needed. When children are experiencing intense emotions that staff find difficult to understand, specialist services are commissioned to work with children and contribute to their plans. As a result, children receive consistent care that reduces the likelihood of them experiencing difficult times.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live far from their homes are supported to maintain relationships with their families. The manager works with the local authority to introduce professionals and carers from host authorities to include them in care team meetings. As a result, one child is increasing their contact with their siblings, parental contact has resumed and this is being carefully managed to support the child’s emotional wellbeing and stay close to those people they care about.

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

Staff understand the risks associated with children. Staff speak with children to understand their motivations and reasons for not returning or going missing from home. For example, staff map the routes that children take and speak to their former placements to gather information. Staff provide children with mobile phones that they can use to remain in touch with staff. As a result of this work, the children are no longer going missing from home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2567557 4 The plans that staff use to keep children safe are effective. Plans include children’s risks and vulnerabilities and what staff need to do to keep children safe. The information is clear and gives a good overview of the child, their experiences and how these manifest into behaviour. The plans involve the child and what they can do to increase their own safety. Clinical professionals contribute to the plans to increase

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

insight into behaviour. The plans are reviewed regularly and shared by the manager with the whole staff team.

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

The manager deals with allegations quickly and effectively. Children feel able to complain to staff about their concerns. The manager conducts appropriate fact-finding exercises, speaking with staff and potential witnesses. The manager informs relevant agencies and provides appropriate evidence to inform their decision making. The manager speaks with children to keep them updated and informed and to have the process and outcome explained to them. As a result, children feel listened to and their concerns are acted on.

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

Staff do not ensure they have sufficient oversight of children’s access to inappropriate material. One child who has a history of trauma and poor sleep is able to watch horror and violence while being supervised by staff. The child states this is a regular activity and is never challenged by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides a supportive environment for staff. Staff say they have a demanding but rewarding job and feel supported by the manager. Staff reflect on practice during regular supervision and can raise concerns and receive guidance from the manager, their supervisor or colleagues. When staff have personal issues, the manager makes adjustments to their role to support them through those times.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the needs of the staff team and puts in the right support to ensure that staff can continue to meet the needs of children effectively. For example, clinicians are commissioned to increase understanding of children and their backgrounds. Staff are also rotated in their duties to ensure they do not become fatigued when managing complex and difficult behaviour from children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When children are not settling into the home, the manager recognises when staff are having difficulty meeting their needs. On one occasion, this led to a child being discharged with immediate effect due to violence towards staff. On another occasion, the manager and senior leaders collaborated effectively to provide resources that improved their response to a child’s needs. This prevented the child from being discharged and strengthened the child’s relationship with staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises early signs of concern and follows up on these by being professionally curious and investigating. The manager speaks to staff and liaises with other managers to establish facts. The manager informs the appropriate agencies and takes immediate action to ensure procedures are properly adhered to. When lessons Inspection report for children’s home: 2567557 5 are learned, action is taken to support staff, to use reflective practice to learn, and to introduce additional training to improve the practice of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been inconsistent external monitoring of the home by the independent visitor. The manager had concerns about the number of different visitors allocated to the home. Feedback from children, parents and professionals has been limited and time on site has been for short periods. At times, there has been third-party information used as independent feedback. This limits the independence of those visits and reduces the effectiveness of the manager’s oversight of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2567557 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 18 February 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to The Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 15.5, page 65)

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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: 2567557 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Middlesbrough Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Middlesbrough House, 50 Corporation Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RH

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Inspector

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2567557 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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