Children's Home run by BFG Together Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2591033 1 Registered provider: BFG Together Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post is vacant. A new manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home, and contributed to the inspection.

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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: 19 November 2024

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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: 2591033 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2024 Full Good 24/05/2023 Full Good 21/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2591033 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 4 children have moved into the home 3 of them within a 2-week period. Although these admissions were planned, the pace of change negatively affected children’s experiences. Staff did not have sufficient time between children moving in to develop a clear understanding of each child’s needs and risks. The potential impact of several children moving in was not fully considered. Risks were not assessed sufficiently in relation to other children, and safeguards were not put in place to mitigate known concerns. Consequently, one child had to move out of the home following incidents involving another child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s journeys throughout their lives. They recognise the impact of their experiences on their behaviour. Staff enjoy spending time with children and talk positively about them. As a result, children feel cared for and nurtured.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have conversations with children about important topics and themes for each of them. These conversations help children to reflect on incidents and risks, and to consider their aspirations for the future. Because of this work, children are making progress in key areas, such as a reduction in risks and engagement in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff adopt a creative approach for children when formal education is not in place. Children engage in educational activities both in and out of the home. Staff understand barriers to learning and are seeking assessments that will support children to access formal education in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop independence skills. They understand children’s starting points and work on their strengths as well as areas to develop. Both children living in the home are developing important independence skills to prepare them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend clubs, activities and community groups that boost their self-esteem. One child has been nominated for a ‘Rising above adversity’ award because of his engagement with community groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, staff have supported 3 children to move to independent living. Staff and children maintain contact, which highlights the importance of their key relationships.

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

Staff understand known risks and the actions they should take to respond. When children go missing from home, staff are active in their response. Multi-agency work is excellent and staff learn from previous incidents to inform future actions. When children return, staff are curious about where they have been and what has happened. As a result, there has been a reduction in missing-from-home incidents for both children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591033 4 Physical intervention is used as a last resort and is proportionate to the circumstances. When a significant incident occurs, there is additional oversight by senior leaders, as well as the manager’s oversight. Reflection and learning are used to improve practice.

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

When complaints or allegations are made, they are thoroughly investigated. Other agencies are involved where appropriate, enabling a clear and considered outcome. Appropriate safeguards are in place to respond to these concerns.

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

Individual risk assessment documents do not set out the actions staff should take in response to risk. They also include old information that is no longer relevant to the children’s risk assessments or care plans. This means there is a lack of clarity on the agreed actions that staff should take.

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

The manager has not consulted with relevant people to review and update the location risk assessment. Also, it does not include relevant information about areas around the home learned from incidents. This is a missed opportunity to understand the wider area and any risks presented for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a change of manager since the last inspection. A new manager is in post and has applied to register. He has a relevant level 5 qualification. The new manager has worked at the home for several years and has a good relationship with all the staff and children. This has resulted in an effective transition between managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands strengths and areas for development. His approach of kindness and understanding aids staff development and learning. Staff feel involved in decision-making and say morale is good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior managers are actively involved and clearly understand the children and staff team. They are present regularly in the home and staff report that this is supportive and welcomed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a thorough package of training which is child specific. External agencies support with this. Staff are helped to understand children’s underlying needs and trauma through regular clinical consultations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported to develop through team meetings and regular supervision sessions that aid their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a high number of notifiable incidents. The manager generally ensures that Ofsted are notified, however on two occasions did not. Some notifications are not completed promptly. This can limit the regulator effectively evaluating safeguarding practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591033 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 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they move children into the home at a pace that allows them to understand the needs and risks of each child, and how the individual risks of children may impact on other children already living in the home. 26 May 2026

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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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; 26 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591033 6 there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure timely notification of serious events to HMCI.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Assessments must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day- to-day basis and be kept up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. In particular, they should consult with other relevant persons and include relevant information about the local area that may impact on children in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality care standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2591033 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: BFG Together Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: NBV Enterprise Centre, David Lane, Nottingham NG6 0JU

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Inspectors

Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Becki Cornes-Sinclair, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2591033 8 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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