Children's home run by Azalea Care Ltd

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 1 Registered provider: Azalea Care 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 organisation. It provides care for up to 6 children with physical or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, no children were living at the home.

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This monitoring visit

The home was inspected in November 2025 with a judgement of inadequate. Compliance notices were served under Regulations 12 and 13 of The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. Following this inspection, additional concerns were raised to Ofsted from external agencies regarding the safety and welfare of the children. A further monitoring visit was undertaken in December 2025. At this visit, Ofsted identified serious concerns in relation to the care and protection of children and the leadership and management of the home. At this visit, the registration of the home was suspended. A further monitoring visit was undertaken in January 2026 to review whether the provider had adhered to the suspension of registration and met the steps in the compliance notices. At this visit, the suspension notice had been complied with. However, the provider had not taken sufficient action to meet the steps in either of the compliance notices.

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This monitoring visit

This visit was undertaken to review the suspension notice. This has been adhered to, and no children have been at the home. However, the record of admissions is not available. Records have been archived and are unavailable to demonstrate that children’s moves and new placement details are recorded as required by the children’s homes regulations. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 2 There is currently no manager or responsible individual. Although appointments have been agreed by the director, applications for these posts have not been received or assessed. Therefore, there is no leadership team in place.

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This monitoring visit

There has been some superficial work toward meeting aspects of the compliance steps. However, the environment remains extremely basic and uninviting. The garden is unkempt, untidy and hazardous. The conservatory leading to the garden is damp with several blacked-out windows to provide privacy from overlooking houses. There is a bad drain odour in a child’s bathroom.

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This monitoring visit

There are questions about the type of children who will be accommodated and potential changes that cannot be determined until realistic applications are submitted for the responsible individual and the registered manager.

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This monitoring visit

The requirements from the previous visits have not been reviewed in full at this visit. Therefore, these have been reinstated and will be reviewed at the next inspection.

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This monitoring visit

The home is not ready to start operation or accommodate children, and therefore, the suspension remains in place and will continue to be monitored by Ofsted. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/11/2025 Full Inadequate 23/04/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 4

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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 with 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi)(b)) 21 April 2026

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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— 21 April 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 5 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(a)(c)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s moves into the home consider the significance of all known risks and vulnerabilities for children. 21 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. 21 April 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s privacy will be respected and the circumstances when it may have to be limited;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to prepare for any review of the child’s relevant plans and to make the child’s views, wishes and feelings known for the purposes of that review; and

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Requirement Due date

make each child aware of and, if necessary, remind them of each of the matters in sub-paragraph (d)(i) to (iii);

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision; and Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 7 ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(iii)(d)(iii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff understand how to safely administer medication and have the knowledge and skills to do this safely. 21 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive good-quality reflective supervision in line with the home’s workforce development plan and policy. 21 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure; 21 April 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 8 a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when medication is used as a measure of control, staff have clear guidelines to understand when to administer it. The registered person must ensure that records are kept of all measures of control, including medication administration, and that there is always leaders’ and managers’ oversight of all measures taken.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming. In particular, they should ensure that repairs and general maintenance to the home are carried out without delay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 9

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Azalea Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tax Assist, Unit 6, Minerva Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6FT

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Inspector

Deirdra Keating, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2796475 11 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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