Children's Home run by Plus One South West Ltd in Somerset

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 1 Registered provider: Plus One South West Ltd

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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 run by a private company. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. One child has moved on from the home since the last inspection. Two children have moved into the home, and the inspector spent time with them during the visit.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 21 October 2025

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

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: 2682298 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

One child has moved out of the home following an increase in risk. The manager worked collaboratively with professionals to ensure that risk was regularly discussed and reviewed. The move was planned and the staff prepared the child for the move. However, the manager and staff have not reflected on the child’s time living at the home, meaning missed opportunities for learning.

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Findings from the inspection

Two children have recently moved into the home. They are starting to build positive relationships with staff and each other. Children confidently share their views, wishes and feelings with staff, who respond supportively.

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Findings from the inspection

The children have participated in activities with staff such as walks, watching sunsets and paddleboarding. The staff support children to spend time with people who are important to them.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s education is a current challenge in the home. One child is not consistently engaging in their timetable. Another child is waiting on confirmation of a school provision. There have been regular discussions between the staff and professionals to ensure that children’s educational needs are met without delay. However, staff have not yet encouraged a structured daily routine that provides informal opportunities to learn and which prepares children to re-engage with education.

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Findings from the inspection

There have been a few occasions where staff have had to use physical restraint to ensure the safety of a child. The use of restraint has been necessary to safeguard the child, but has not always been effective in supporting the child to calm. The manager spoke to the child and staff following these incidents and reviewed risk with professionals. However, when the manager was involved in an incident of restraint another manager did not speak with them or review the incident,

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Findings from the inspection

When children have gone missing, staff follow the guidance in plans. Children are followed and searched for until they are safely located, and staff support them on their return home. Staff talk to children and seek to understand why they have left the home. Learning from these incidents is not always triangulated into the relevant plans, and timescales for reporting children missing are not clear.

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Findings from the inspection

One child currently vapes, but there is no guidance for staff on how they should respond to this. Discussions with the child about the health risk have not been completed.

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Findings from the inspection

During the inspection, a safeguarding concern relating to a child was noted by the inspector. This had not been recorded or reported correctly by staff or picked up by the manager in their oversight. The manager was made aware of this concern and Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 3 plans to investigate this and revisit safeguarding responsibilities with the wider team.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager does not yet have effective monitoring and review systems in place to support improvements to the quality of care in the home. Oversight is not yet robust enough, and development actions identified in the quality-of-care report are not measurable. Reports were submitted late to the regulator and do not contain feedback from children. Language used in recordings about children is not always child centred. At times, the language used is blaming and shaming.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff have not always received regular supervisions to support them to reflect on their practice. The manager acknowledged this and has clear plans to ensure they are completed.

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Findings from the inspection

One requirement made at the previous inspection has been met. Two requirements were partially met, and additional actions have been added. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/10/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/04/2024 Full Good 06/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 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 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

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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager should ensure that all staff receive regular practice-based supervisions.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, they should ensure that there are effective monitoring and review systems in place to ensure oversight of the care provided in the home. This includes demonstrating reflection and learning from experiences of children who live, and have lived, at the home and share this 14 April 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 6 learning with the staff to support practice improvements and staff development.

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Requirement Due date

Feedback from children should be regularly obtained to support continuous improvements.

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Requirement Due date

The responsible individual should ensure that when the registered manager is involved in incidents, they complete debriefs with them and have management oversight on records.

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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

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

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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 homes child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the homes 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)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff recognise safeguarding concerns and understand the appropriate actions they should take to record and report these.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered manager should ensure that relevant plans for children have clear guidance for staff on timescales to report children missing, and include key updates to support staff to safely locate children when they are missing. 30 March 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when children do not have education in place they work with the placing authority to ensure that children’s needs are met. In the interim, the children should be engaged in suitable structured activities that promote a positive daily routine that supports them to re-engage with education as soon as possible. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under regulation 5. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.5)  The registered person should ensure that children are offered advice, support and guidance around vaping. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s records for each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Staff should ensure that

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Recommendations

the language used in documents is child friendly and non-stigmatising. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Plus One South West Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O Milsted Langdon Llp Winchester House, Deane Gate Avenue, Taunton, Somerset TA1 2UH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Stephen Nicholson

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Inspector

Carly Parry, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 9 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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