Centrechild House Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 1 Centrechild House Ltd Registered provider: Centrechild House Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

The supported accommodation service is operated by a private provider in the East of England. The service can accommodate up to 12 children in 4 shared or group living situations in premises which are not limited to accommodating looked-after children or care leavers. At the time of the inspection, 5 children in care aged 16 or 17 were being accommodated.

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provider

The service and the registered service manager registered with Ofsted in March 2024.

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Inspection dates: 14 to 16 January 2026

The inspection was announced on 12 January 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site from 14 to 16 January 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

Most children have recently moved into the accommodation. Staff are working to build relationships, and children describe feeling able to talk to staff and seek help when needed. The quality of the accommodation has improved and is clean, comfortable and more homely, with children able to personalise their rooms.

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Summary of findings

The rationale for children coming to live at the accommodation is not clear. This affects the quality of the planning and support for the children. As a result, children are not receiving targeted help to make and sustain progress towards their preparation for adulthood. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 2 The quality of support provided to children is inconsistent. Some children experience positive relationships with staff and benefit from improved stability. Children are not involved in their initial support planning and risk management arrangements, and this limits the progress that they are able to make. Children’s views and opinions are not being sought or used to shape the support they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are actively encouraged to develop and maintain strong, supportive social relationships with friends, and, when appropriate, family and previous carers. Children have suitable access to technology to help them keep in touch with family and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are not consistently informed about their right to advocacy. It is unclear whether all children understand what advocacy services are or how they can receive them. The children’s guide does not explain their entitlements or provide clear information about how to access advocacy support. Children’s voices are not consistently heard or used to influence their support

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff work hard to build relationships with children. Staff are developing their awareness of how previous experiences of neglect and trauma impact the current behaviour and mental wellbeing of the children they are working with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Although staff talk to children about education and incorporate it into support planning, the quality and impact of this work is inconsistent. Some children are unclear about their options for education, training or employment and do not feel hopeful about improving their circumstances in this area. This limits the children’s ability to progress or sustain any progress made. None of the children living in the homes are accessing education, training or employment, and possible barriers to engagement are not identified or meaningfully addressed. Important information, such as a child having an education, health and care plan, is absent from support plans and risk assessments. This limits the provider’s ability to plan effective support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have basic, generalised support plans rather than clear, personalised goals. Some children’s support and progress are only enabled by their knowledge and independence skills in a particular area rather than through structured support from the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children are supported to develop basic life skills. Staff work with them to improve their understanding of how they can recognise and protect themselves in unsafe situations or with unsafe people.

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How well children are helped and protected

Most of the children have come to the provision in the last 3 to 4 months. Staff are building relationships with the children and most are settling into the provision. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 3 The location of the homes is good. All children can travel independently, with good access to relevant resources and good transport links. The children can meet friends and family easily and independently.

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How well children are helped and protected

There have been improvements to the accommodation to make the homes more homely and comfortable. Staff are aware of their responsibilities to consider the maintenance and cleanliness of the homes to ensure that they are welcoming and warm. Children are allowed to make minor interior changes to their rooms and add personal touches.

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How well children are helped and protected

Some children receive help to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. However, for some children the lack of information about risks and needs contained in local authority referrals means their associated needs are not addressed in plans or assessments. Consequently, there is no assessment of how these needs will be met.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff do not have the training or knowledge in the specific needs of some children who live in the provision. This limits the effectiveness of the overall safeguarding and support for children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff are not clear about how they should respond when visitors come to the home, which means practice is inconsistent and can compromise the safety of the children. Although the children’s guide states that visitors should provide identification and sign in, there is no evidence that this system is routinely enforced or that staff are fully aware of these expectations. As a result, there is no reliable safeguard ensuring that only appropriate and authorised individuals enter the accommodation. This has contributed to incidents when children and staff have been at risk of harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children do not experience consistently informed or collaborative support because their plans and risk assessments are completed without their involvement. As a result, they do not understand why certain actions are taken by staff, which leads to confusion, distress and avoidable conflict. One child was upset that staff were entering their room repeatedly. The child was unaware that this was linked to an identified risk and was part of their risk mitigation plan. The absence of children’s input into their own plans limits their ability to participate in decisions about their support, undermines trust, and reduces the effectiveness of support provided to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The lack of professional development for the nominated individual since registration has a direct and negative impact on both the service and the children living there. Without an appropriate mechanism to stay up to date with current legislation, guidance and sector expectations, the nominated individual is unable to provide informed oversight or effective supervision to the registered service manager. This limits the service’s capacity to maintain safe and compliant practice. As a result, key management decisions, such as oversight of staff training, quality of support Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 4 planning and responses to risk, are not consistently robust. These weaknesses reduce the provider’s ability to ensure that children receive well-informed, safe and high-quality support, and they contribute to inconsistencies in the overall experiences and progress of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Monitoring arrangements are not sufficiently developed to ensure the consistent quality of support provided to children. Managers do not routinely review or evaluate practice, and the service lacks a systematic approach to gathering feedback from children or professionals. As a result, leaders do not have a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement of the service or how children experience the support they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager has not submitted the required quality of service reports, which further limits the provider’s ability to identify patterns, drive improvement and maintain regulatory compliance. These shortfalls contribute to inconsistent practice and reduce the service’s capacity to provide sustained progress for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have responded to concerns raised by a local authority. Professionals reported that communication with the provision is good and they work collaboratively with other agencies and professionals and family when appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The service is now fully staffed. When new staff have been recruited, safer recruitment procedures have been followed. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 5

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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 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—

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Requirement Due date

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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each child is fully aware of their entitlements throughout the duration of their placement in supported accommodation, including—

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Requirement Due date

what they can expect from the provision of supported accommodation. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(c)(f)(g)(h)(i)) 27 March 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 6 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 children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

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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

before a child arrives or upon a child’s arrival, ensure that the child is given a written guide, in an accessible format, containing information about—

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available, how the child may access that support or those services, and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that children are supported to access education, training or employment. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(b)(j)(ii)(m)) 27 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider and the registered service manager must, having regard to—

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Requirement Due date

the number of premises used as supported accommodation by,

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Requirement Due date

the number of children accommodated in the premises used as supported accommodation by,

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Requirement Due date

the geographical scope of the premises used as supported accommodation by,

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Requirement Due date

the category or categories of supported accommodation provided by

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Requirement Due date

the supported accommodation undertaking concerned, carry on or manage that undertaking with sufficient care, competence and skill. 27 March 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 7 The registered provider must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

where the registered provider is an individual, that person,

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Requirement Due date

where the registered provider is an organisation, the nominated individual,

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Requirement Due date

where the registered provider is a partnership, one of the partners,

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Requirement Due date

undertakes, from time to time, such training as is appropriate to ensure that they have the experience and skills necessary for carrying on the supported accommodation undertaking. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

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. 27 March 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 8 (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2) (3))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the supported accommodation offers a comfortable, positive and nurturing environment that is homely and welcoming. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 29)  The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose is complete, accurate and used effectively to guide decision-making about admissions as part of the process of agreement between the registered person and the accommodating authority. The statement of purpose should clearly set out the needs the service can meet. Young people must only be admitted when their identified needs fall within the scope of the provider’s statement of purpose, so that the placement is suitable and the service can respond appropriately to their needs. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 47)  The registered person should ensure they actively scrutinise the settings and

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Recommendations

make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. The registered person should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns, and they are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 53)

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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: Centrechild House Ltd 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Centrechild House Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 1 Weirbrook, Rayleigh SS6 7GX

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Vida Anorson

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: info@centrechildhouse.com

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Inspector

Eileen Bultitude, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Centrechild House Ltd 10 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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