Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 1 SC440309

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Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to 6 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 5 children were living at the home.

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Inspection date: 17 March 2026

Date of last inspection: 18 November 2025

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Inspection date: 17 March 2026

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 17 March 2026

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector has looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

The home is overseen and managed by a dedicated registered manager. The manager is supported by 2 committed assistant managers. One staff member said, ‘There is always someone that I can talk to.’

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Findings from the inspection

There is a relaxed atmosphere in the home. The home is well decorated and comfortable. Staff help children personalise their bedrooms. This provides the children with a sense of belonging.

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Findings from the inspection

The staff are caring and passionate about their role and the care they provide for children. The children living in the home have developed trusting relationships with staff.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff encourage the children to become more independent and develop new skills, depending on their age and understanding. This helps children to learn the skills they will need as they become adults.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager and staff support children’s education and employment. The manager remains persistent in their attempt to fully engage children in education. This has included working alongside an educational psychologist for one child, to ensure staff have a good understanding of strategies in place to support the child.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff support children’s relationships with their families, and work alongside family members and professional services to ensure that time spent with family is safe. This provides children with a support network where they feel safe to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff have a good understanding of children’s experiences, which helps them to tailor their practice to meet the children’s individual needs. Staff communicate regularly with the children about any concerns and risks, which helps them to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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Findings from the inspection

The children’s risk assessments are regularly updated and reviewed. However, not all known risks for one child have been included. This does not ensure that staff have all relevant strategies and information to support the child.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager and staff do not show professional curiosity about the risks to children from online activities. As a result, children use their devices freely and without monitoring, which poses a risk to them.

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Findings from the inspection

The children are in good health and staff actively encourage and support them to Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 3 attend health appointments. One child vapes in the home, which does not help to promote children’s health and wellbeing. However, staff are proactive and remove vapes if they are seen.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff meetings and supervisions are held regularly and include reflective discussions and training to support children’s individual needs and staff development.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager carries out the quality-of-care reviews every 6 months and shares them with the regulator as required. However, they have not sought children’s views as part of the review. The manager is currently completing the quality-of-care review for this period.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff say they enjoy working at the home and that they feel supported. One staff member said, ‘I don’t have to wait for supervision to discuss things.’

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/11/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/08/2023 Full Inadequate Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 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 within 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

hat 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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished, and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and 1 May 2026 Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 5 that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that risk assessments are regularly reviewed and include all current and emerging risks. Missing-from-home risk assessments should include clear actions and details of children’s known contacts.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are educated about appropriate internet use and systems are in place to monitor children’s social media and internet use.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality-of-care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities, and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality-of-care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality-of- care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality-of-care review ("the quality-of-care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality-of-care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality-of-care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 1 May 2026 Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 6 The registered person must ensure that they consult with children and include their views in the review of the quality of care.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their own day-to-day health and wellbeing, in particular around the use of vapes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 33, paragraph 7.10) Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lancashire County Council, PO Box 100, Preston PR1 0LD

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Inspector

Stacey Ilaboya, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: SC440309 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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