Young London Today

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 1 Young London Today Registered provider: Young London Today

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Inspected under the social care common inspection Post

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a private provider. The service can accommodate up to 42 children and young people in 8 premises consisting of ring-fenced shared accommodation and non-ring-fenced shared accommodation.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support for 13 children aged 16 and 17.

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provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2026.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 23 March August 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 25 to 27 March 2026.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 3 years.

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Summary of findings

Children enjoy where they live. They settle quickly into their new homes and develop positive, meaningful relationships with staff.

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Summary of findings

Children are always consulted about the support they receive. Staff listen to the children and help them to achieve their goals. Children’s confidence increases as they learn independent living skills.

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Summary of findings

Staff ensure that children’s safety is paramount. Staff are trained to identify risks and work closely with other professionals and agencies to ensure that children are safe. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 2 Leaders and managers are committed to creating a consistent and dedicated staff team whose members are passionate about working with children. This approach ensures that staff focus on getting to know children well, and, as a result, children experience a sense of belonging.

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Summary of findings

There has been significant change in the management team since registration. The new leadership team is experienced, committed and focused on staff wellbeing and children’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children live in calm, welcoming homes that are maintained to a high standard. A consistent, dedicated staff team ensures that they know children well so they can best meet their needs. As a result, children feel safe and settled in their homes, and make good progress with their independent living skills. When asked about their experiences, children said: ‘staff are helping me’, and ‘I am happy here’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff proactively support children to engage in education, training or employment. Most children are attending college. Children who are not yet attending are encouraged by staff to find their area of interest so that the right training course can be found for them. Children are encouraged to think big and receive individualised support to help them to achieve their future goals, such as attending university or following a career path that inspires them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

There is a diverse staff team whose members value and promote equality and inclusion. Staff respect children’s identities, and support them well with matters relating to ethnicity, culture and gender. Staff are attentive and proactive in ensuring that children’s individual needs are met, for example with seeking asylum or engaging in activities within their local area that support their culture. This creates an environment where children experience belonging and acceptance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children in developing and maintaining safe relationships with family and friends. Staff encourage friends and family to visit the children. One social worker said: ‘Staff have a very good and positive relationship with family members.’ The staff are creative in finding ways, including working with social workers and other agencies, to establish contact with family overseas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children access and enjoy a range of social and recreational activities based in their local community. Staff support children to join local gyms and attend their place of worship. Managers and staff prioritise children having fun and ensure there are opportunities for cinema trips, days out and themed celebrations within the homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive targeted support in many aspects of their lives, including education, personal safety, health and independent living skills. Staff make every effort to ensure that children are building essential life skills. Children are well supported to move on from this service. Some children have the option to move to one of the Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 3 provider’s 18+ services to continue their journey towards independence with known and trusted staff, and this provides ongoing continuity into adulthood.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children say that they feel safe. All children spoken to can identify a trusted adult to speak to about any concerns. There is a consistent and stable staff team in each home, meaning children have opportunities to develop trusting relationships with the adults who support them. Children also know how to access independent advocacy services to further support them in representing their views and ensuring they understand their entitlements.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff work closely with health professionals to ensure that children receive the appropriate support. Staff prioritise children’s physical and mental health. When children have a physical ailment, staff ensure they receive medical care promptly and advocate for health services to respond in a timely manner when medical intervention is needed. Specialists’ help and therapeutic support are sought when necessary.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff complete comprehensive support plans and risk assessments for children. These documents are accessible, easy to understand and are updated as needed. Children are consulted in creating their support plan, and this helps them to them to learn more about how to keep themselves safe, for example when out in the community. When incidents such as allegations occur, these are well managed by managers, who work closely with other professionals and follow all safeguarding procedures.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers ensure that staff undergo a comprehensive induction and receive ongoing training in a range of relevant safeguarding areas. This includes trauma-informed practice, child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation, knife crime and de ‑ escalation techniques.

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How well children are helped and protected

Managers and staff manage safeguarding concerns appropriately and share these in a timely manner with the children’s social workers and other professionals. However, since registration, leaders and managers have failed to notify Ofsted of some serious events, such as self-harm incidents. This hinders Ofsted’s oversight of how the provider responds to these situations to protect children from harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

Safer recruitment processes are in place, but in some instances, the managers have not followed their own processes, such as ensuring written references have been received before staff take up their employment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Since registration, there has been substantial change in the management structure, with the nominated individual and 2 job-sharing registered service managers leaving. The new registered service manager and proposed nominated individual Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 4 bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from having worked in supported accommodation settings for several years.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are focused on establishing a culture where staff demonstrate professional curiosity and can work creatively to support children individually. They are in the process of developing a phone app for children to easily share information and to further strengthen gaining children’s views. They have also developed ‘safe space’ workshops for staff and children to ensure that any concerns are raised, appropriately shared and meaningfully addressed in a timely manner. The new management team works closely together across all aspects of the service. This coordinated approach means that staff feel fully supported. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. One member of staff said that the support from managers means being ‘valued in my role’. Another described their work as ‘enriching and rewarding’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

A culture of close working with other professionals ensures there is good communication and consistency in the support that children are receiving. Professionals involved in children’s lives provide positive feedback, praising the good communication, support for children and commitment to safeguarding. One child’s social worker said: ‘Staff are excellent communicators and send regular updates.’ Another social worker described staff as ‘approachable and responsive’. This comprehensive approach ensures that children’s needs are at the forefront.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers actively encourage progression in staff’s professional development through regular training and reflective supervision. Supervision takes place regularly and focuses on staff wellbeing and the progress of children. Staff are appropriately challenged about their practice if needed and supported to make improvements. Annual appraisals set clear goals and objectives for the coming year. However, staff appraisals can be improved by including feedback from the children, colleagues and other professionals. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry);

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Requirement Due date

there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f)) 30 April 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff appraisals take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and young people in the setting. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 6 (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 51)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment practice demonstrates that managers have sufficiently explored staff suitability and fitness to work with children and that they have the relevant skills, qualifications and recent experience to meet the needs of children. This includes ensuring that references are in place before staff start work. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 16)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Suite 39, 264 Lavender Hill, Clapham Junction, London SW11 1LJ

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Nominated individual: Vacant

Registered service manager: Melane Nicholas

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Nominated individual: Vacant

Email address: Notifications@young-london.org

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Inspectors

Julie Cresswell, Social Care Inspector Phyllis Dyer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Young London Today 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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