Children's home run by Phoenix Care & Education Limited

Inspection report for the children’s home: 2832239 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for 4 children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post is vacant. An interim manager has been in post since February 2026.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 11 November 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A full inspection was carried out on 11 November 2025 when an inadequate judgement was given. Following the inspection, two compliance notices were issued under 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000. These related to Regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and Regulation 13, the leadership and management standard.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was completed on 6 January 2026 to evaluate the provider’s progress in meeting the steps in the compliance notices. It was determined at a case review that Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 2 not all the steps had been met and the compliance notices under Regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and Regulation 13, the leadership and management standard were reissued. The inspectors considered whether the steps set out in the notices had been met as part of this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/11/2025 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they have positive relationships with staff who they can talk to when they are feeling anxious or upset. Staff respond in a warm and nurturing way, providing reassurance and strategies to help them manage difficult feelings. This helps children share their feelings in a safe way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in their education. Staff work closely with education professionals to explore the challenges children face about attending school. One child, who has not been to school for a long time, now attends regularly and has a clear plan in place to support their full-time attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend health appointments. They explain the importance of visiting health professionals to children in ways that they understand. This ensures that the children are accessing the health care that they need. However, managers did not identify that a referral to the neurodevelopmental pathway for one child had not been made by external professionals. The responsible individual has now escalated this with the relevant professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are beginning to take part in activities that are new to them. They recently enjoyed a caravan holiday, and managers are planning a holiday abroad. Staff use activities as opportunities to build trust with children and help them find interests that they enjoy. The children can explore the large garden at the home and help feed the pet chicken.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s bedrooms are personalised, and the children are encouraged to personalise other areas of the home. This helps promote their sense of permanence and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that there are appropriate routines in place for children to support their emotional well-being. This is helping children to settle better during the evenings and as a result, the number of incidents has reduced at night. However, the use of door alarms on the children’s bedroom doors does not reflect their current risks. Furthermore, the rationale for the door alarms is not clearly recorded in the children’s plans. This limits children’s sense of privacy and independence.

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

Staff know how to identify when children are at risk and what action to take. There are clear plans in place for staff to follow to manage and reduce children’s risk. Managers regularly review the plans in consultation with the children’s social worker. As a result, the children’s risks are reducing. Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 5 Leaders and managers provide staff with training opportunities to improve their skills. This includes substance misuse and self-harming behaviour. This ensures that staff skills continuously reflect the needs and risks of the children.

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

When children go missing from home, staff take appropriate action. They search for the children and ensure that the appropriate professionals are informed. They help children to express the reasons why they went missing and find strategies to prevent it reoccurring. The number of missing incidents for children has reduced significantly.

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

Staff have a clear understanding of the procedures for carrying out a room search. They explain the reasons to children in a sensitive and supportive way and inform them of the outcome. However, staff do not know how to record or dispose of any harmful or illegal items when they are found.

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

Changes in the staff who provide day to day care for the children are infrequent. This means that children are cared for by people who are familiar to them. However, when new staff are recruited, leaders and managers do not always review gaps in staff’s previous employment history. Furthermore, a director did not have an up-to-date enhanced DBS in place. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that all adults working at the home are suitable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Although there have been inconsistencies in the leadership and management of the home, this is beginning to stabilise. The responsible individual has worked hard to improve the management oversight of staff practice. and their care of children. An interim manager is now working at the home who is starting to implement the changes made by the responsible individual, however this is at an early stage.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff speak highly of the responsible individual provides and say her support has helped them feel more confident in their roles. The responsible individual has been a strong presence at the home, particularly in the absence of a manager. She has worked alongside staff and spent time supervising and coaching them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Supervision and team meetings provide staff with opportunities to develop their practice. Areas for development are discussed, and staff share important information about the children with one another. The positive communication between the staff is helping to promote a consistent approach to children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The children’s social worker says that communication from managers and staff has improved, and the children are much happier at the home than previously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers address shortfalls in practice through direct conversations with staff. However, staff performance plans do not always detail clear actions and timeframes for completion. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that staff know what they need to do to improve. Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 6 The independent person does not visit the home regularly each month. This does not ensure that there is consistent independent scrutiny of the children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Following the visit, it was agreed at a case review that the provider has taken sufficient action to meet the steps in the compliance notices for Regulation 12, the protection of children standard and Regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 7

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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 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;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that shortfalls in staff practice are addressed with clear actions plans to develop and improve staff knowledge and skills. 1 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. (Regulation 44 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 1 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— 1 April 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 8 seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they challenge and escalate any action by external professionals about the children’s care. This specifically relates to ensuring that health referrals for children are completed in a timely way and challenged when they are not.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all new staff provide full dates in respect of their employment history to ensure that any gaps in employment are fully explored and accounted for. In addition, the registered person must ensure that all staff and relevant persons working at the home have an up-to-date DBS in place. 1 April 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 9 The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the use of door alarms on the children’s bedroom doors is thoroughly assessed in respect of each child and only used as a safeguarding measure. Any use of door alarms must also be kept under regular review with a clear rationale for their continued use. 1 April 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are provided with clear guidance on the recording and disposing of unsafe or illegal items or substances that are found in the home, in line with other relevant legislation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.22)

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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: 2832239 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 22 to 24 Balfour Road, Bootle L20 4NZ

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Inspectors

Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Ruth Mortimer-Jones, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2832239 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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