Children's home run by New Start

Inspection report for children’s home: 2836279 1 Registered provider: New Start Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It offers care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025. He is also registered to manage another home owned by this company.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is the homes first full inspection since the home was registered.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of this inspection. The inspector spoke with the child as part of the inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2836279 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have lived at the home since it registered with Ofsted. One child moved in and out of the home within a short period. Staff endeavoured to make the child’s brief stay a positive experience. Another child has recently moved in. Staff are working cohesively with the child’s family and placing authority to understand and meet the child’s needs.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are warmly welcomed to the home. Staff get to know children quickly and help them to settle in and to feel secure. Staff offer children a variety of engaging and fun activities. For example, children have enjoyed trips to football matches, bowling alleys and pamper sessions. This enhances children’s experiences of living at the home.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a small, consistent staff team. This gives children the opportunity to form positive and trusting relationships with staff. Children’s care plans are detailed and contain important information about the child’s needs. This promotes consistent practice.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The number of staff permitted to work at the home is capped by the home’s planning permission. This limits the managers ability to bring additional staff in to support children at times of crisis or if children’s needs change. The manager has not always used all the information available from the child’s placing authority to determine whether the child’s needs can be met by such a small staff team. This could risk future disruption for children.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child who currently lives at the home is supported to see their family regularly. This is effectively planned to ensure that it is a positive and safe experience for the child. The manager understands the importance of these relationships and has recently advocated for the child to spend more time with their family and other people who are important to them. The manager has developed relationships with children’s family members and communicates with them regularly.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement in education is variable. Sometimes children have been reluctant to attend school because of disputes with their peers. Staff are persistent in their efforts to encourage and motivate children to attend. However, following a recent incident, there has been a delay in staff contacting school to understand what has happened and establish what steps need to be taken to reengage the child. This delay risks prolonging the period of non-attendance.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views, wishes and feelings are sought and respected. However, when upset, children have sometimes said that they do not like living at the home. Managers and staff have not taken sufficient action to explore with children why they feel like this and what could be done differently to resolve the matter. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836279 3

p.2

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

The child says that they feel safe and secure living at the home. Risks to children are well understood. The manager ensures that clear risk management plans are in place to guide staff in managing these risks effectively. These plans are reviewed regularly and updated promptly following any incidents.

p.3

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

There has been an escalation in the number of times one child goes missing from the home. The proximity of the home to people who are important to the child is a strong pull factor. When the child is missing, staff are persistent in their efforts to locate the child. The manager ensures that there are clear protocols in place for staff to follow. This promotes a shared understanding of how the staff must respond and promotes consistent practice. The manager is working collaboratively with the child’s family and placing authority to try to reduce the risk of the child going missing from home.

p.3

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

Children have individualised behaviour support plans in place. This provides staff with guidance about agreed strategies to de-escalate challenging situations. This is helpful as the child has not lived at the home for long and staff are still getting to know the child. The use of physical intervention to manage challenging situations with children is rare. However, following one incident, the child was not given the opportunity to talk with someone who was independent of the incident. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to understand what happened from the child’s perspective and consider whether changes to staff practice are necessary.

p.3

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

Managers take allegations seriously. They act promptly to investigate and resolve the matter. The management team are transparent throughout the process and keep Ofsted and other relevant professionals updated with the outcome of the allegation management process.

p.3

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

Safer recruitment practices are in place to ensure that only adults who are safe to work with children are employed at the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced and appropriately qualified manager leads the home. He is also registered to manage another home owned by this company. He is supported by a deputy manager who is actively involved in the running of the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home. All reports and plans evidence the manager’s oversight. The manager has robust monitoring systems in place. This helps the manager to ensure that staff are delivering good quality care.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been occasions when the manager has not notified Ofsted about significant events in the home in a timely way. These delays hinder the regulators oversight of practice in the home. A recommendation has been made in relation to this matter. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836279 4 The manager spends time with children and understands the progress that they are making. He is a good advocate for children. He is confident to challenge others when he believes that children are not receiving the support that they require.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from continuity of care. Staff work collaboratively to provide children with consistency and stability. Communication is good and team meetings are regular. Managers use team meetings to ensure that children’s needs are well understood.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a wide range of training that equips them with the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the children in their care effectively.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. This supports them to reflect on their practice and identify any areas for development.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works proactively with other agencies to ensure that children’s needs are met. Professionals are complimentary about the communication they receive from the team and report that they are kept well informed about children’s day-to-day progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836279 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

p.5

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there are sufficient staff available to meet the child’s assessed needs before admitting a child to the home. 3 May 2026

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

p.5

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings; 3 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2836279 6 regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv))

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are given the opportunity to express their feelings about the experience of being restrained. This must be with a person who was not involved in the incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that where children are not participating in education, they work closely with the school and placing authority to support the child to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, children should be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified to Ofsted without delay. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. (‘Guide to the

p.6

Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

p.6

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: 2836279 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 179 Townsend Lane, Clubmoor, Liverpool L13 9DY

p.7

Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2836279 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8