Liberty Foster Care

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 1 Liberty Foster Care Liberty Foster Care Limited Passfield Business Centre, Lynchborough Road, Passfield, Liphook, Hampshire GU30 7SB Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

This private company is owned and managed by the responsible individual and the registered manager. At the time of this inspection, the agency provided for 22 children in 19 fostering households. The provider states in its statement of purpose that the agency provides a positive, safe and nurturing experience of foster care for children in emergency, short-term and long-term placements.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The agency does not provide short breaks or parent and child placements.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The registered manager has been in post since 2009.

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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 independent fostering agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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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 independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships between staff, carers and managers are a notable strength of this agency. Foster carers and the agency are making a significant difference in the lives of children and young people. The agency’s good practices have led to sustained improvements in the lives of children, including those with complex and challenging needs. Placement stability and long-term placements are strengths of the agency. The holistic support and wraparound care provided to children and foster carers positively impact stability and permanency for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships between children and their foster carers are built on trust and understanding. The children feel happy and settled, as they are embraced by their foster families and become an integral part of the family network. Many children are placed in long-term arrangements, with some expressing a desire to stay with their carers even after reaching independence. The agency is dedicated to ensuring stability for these children. A ‘staying put’ arrangement for one young person was well planned, with the young person reporting that they felt well supported by their foster carers and the agency staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff have a strong understanding of the children and the foster carers. Foster carers expressed to the inspector that they feel supported and enjoy a positive working relationship with their supervising social workers and managers. The agency actively participates in all meetings concerning the children’s care planning and progress, including those relating to education and health support. The dedication of the staff is highly regarded and appreciated by the foster carers. The agency emphasises that the wellbeing of children is its top priority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Supervising social workers and foster carers are dedicated and proactive in communicating effectively with the relevant professionals. They advocate for children to receive an education that meets their individual needs, ensuring that they all achieve their personal expectations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency promotes diversity; the staff and managers demonstrate creativity in supporting children and foster carers from various cultures. Foster carers actively meet the cultural needs of children placed with them, even when the children’s ethnic backgrounds differ from their own. They seek support and participate in training to better understand the children’s backgrounds and experiences. Additionally, foster carers are innovative in helping children to feel positive about their identities and express themselves. This support has contributed to children feeling understood and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The progress and achievements of children are celebrated, with the agency and foster carers ensuring that every small step is recognised. Each year, an event is organised where all staff, foster carers and children come together to celebrate these accomplishments. The children have expressed that they enjoy these events and truly value the awards they receive. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 3 Foster carers speak positively and fondly about the children, expressing pride in each child’s achievements. They provide care that is attuned to the needs of the children and create positive experiences, including access to clubs, activities and holidays. This support helps with socialisation and fosters the creation of core memories for the children. The carers have a deep understanding of the children in their care and receive support from staff to ensure that their approach is empathetic and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met well. Carers ensure that children attend all primary healthcare appointments and are alert to their growing needs. Carers will ask for specialist advice and support when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The foster carers have put in significant effort to promote family time in a safe manner for children, using creative approaches to enable children from large family groups to have time together, both online and in person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency is actively developing its participation initiatives, having established child groups to facilitate engagement. This effort is bolstered by the addition of a newly appointed participation support worker. Children enjoy various agency activities and have ample opportunities to interact with their peers as well as the agency staff; they can also provide feedback about the agency and be involved in future developments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The process of matching children with foster families is carefully evaluated, considering the needs of the entire family unit. This includes the consideration of the foster carers’ biological children and the support available from the wider family network.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers are resilient and prioritise the needs of the children in their care. They recognise that children’s behaviours often stem from the trauma that they have experienced in their lives. By allowing children to express themselves through their behaviour, foster carers support them in managing difficult emotions. As a result, children feel safe and supported, which helps them to build their own resilience.

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

Children feel safe living with their foster carers and are fully included in their foster families. They are confident in expressing their worries or concerns, and foster carers trust the agency to provide additional support when necessary. This allows the children to be themselves and to process their feelings and emotions without fear of judgement.

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

Good safeguarding practice is threaded throughout the agency. Clear and concise risk assessments provide foster carers with all the relevant information to help them support children in taking age-appropriate risks. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 4 The registered manager maintains excellent oversight of safeguarding concerns and emerging risks, implementing proactive strategies to reduce harm. Complaints and allegations are managed effectively, with timely liaison with the local authority designated officer and placing authorities. Decisions are well documented and defensible. Managers analyse complaint themes to identify learning and improve practice. However, on one occasion, Ofsted was notified late regarding a significant concern.

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

Standards of care investigations are thorough and balanced, with detailed reports that consider individual circumstances and focus on learning outcomes. The agency panel and agency decision-maker have oversight of all complaints and standards of care. This ensures that care strategies are tailored to promote wellbeing and development.

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

Children are regularly seen by supervising social workers, providing opportunities to share concerns privately. Children are confident in who they can approach should they wish to raise a complaint, and they are kept updated on any progress relating to worries shared.

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

Carers are trained to respond appropriately to any safeguarding concerns for children. They receive prompt and helpful advice from the agency, including support through visits, telephone calls and the out-of-hours service.

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

Regular peer support and groups provide an additional layer of support. Managers have good oversight of foster care training to ensure that carers meet the agency’s expectations and minimum standards.

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

The agency carries out thorough safer recruitment checks for all staff. This is in addition to the careful recruitment and vetting of foster carers, which focuses on keeping children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leadership is strong, and leaders are committed to keeping children at the centre of practice. The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced, with a clear understanding of service operations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Foster carers report highly positive experiences, feeling valued, listened to and well supported. They describe a strong sense of belonging in the fostering community and commend staff for being knowledgeable, approachable and responsive. Carers consistently state that the agency’s approach enables them to provide high-quality care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Decision-making is timely and well informed, supported by an experienced agency decision-maker and panel chair. Robust quality assurance systems foster professional challenge and collaboration. External professionals describe the agency as ‘proactive’, ‘solution focused’ and ‘communicative’, with highly effective support for Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 5 foster carers and the children in their care. However, the manager’s oversight of the assessments of prospective foster carers is limited, which affects overall quality assurance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feedback is consistently positive, reflecting a strong sense of shared purpose and commitment to keeping children at the centre of practice. Staff benefit from high-quality reflective supervision that supports their wellbeing, professional development and the needs of carers, children and the agency. However, the absence of supervision for the registered manager represents a missed opportunity for professional growth and reflective support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The response to the recommendations from the last inspection has been considerable. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that the quality of service reviews have been carried out and shared with the regulator. These are missed opportunities for the provider to showcase the improvements they have made to the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency consistently provides good-quality care, ensuring that children’s needs remain central to its practice. Strong relationships, effective safeguarding and committed leadership underpin positive outcomes for children. While there are some shortfalls, they do not detract from the overall positive impact on children’s lives, and the agency demonstrates the capacity and commitment to address these promptly. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 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 Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for—

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Requirement Due date

monitoring the matters set out in Schedule 6 at appropriate intervals, and

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Requirement Due date

improving the quality of foster care provided by the fostering agency.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide the Chief Inspector with a written report in respect of any review conducted for the purposes of paragraph (1) and, on request, to any local authority.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (1) must provide for consultation with foster parents, children placed with foster parents, and their placing authority (unless, in the case of a fostering agency which is a voluntary organisation, it is also the placing authority). (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)) 1 March 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they have a system in place to notify, within 24 hours, persons and appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with regulation 36. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 29.1)  The registered person should ensure that the written report on the person’s suitability to be approved as a foster carer sets out clearly all the information that the fostering panel and decision-maker need to make an objective approval decision. The reports should be prepared, signed and dated by the social worker who assessed the prospective foster carer and countersigned and dated by the fostering team manager or a team manager of another of the provider’s fostering teams. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 13.7)  The registered person should ensure that suitable arrangements exist for professional supervision of the agency’s registered person. (‘Fostering services:

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Recommendations

national minimum standards’, 24.3) Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 7

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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 Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 8

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Liberty Foster Care Limited

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: Passfield Business Centre, Lynchborough Road, Passfield, Liphook, Hampshire GU30 7SB

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: john@libertyfostercare.co.uk

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Inspector

Sharron Dormand, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Liberty Foster Care 9 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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