Children's Home run by PIC Children’s Services in Sefton

Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 1 SC040785 Registered provider: PIC Children’s Services

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there was 1 child living at the home. There was 1 child living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2019.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/07/2025 Full Good 13/08/2024 Full Good 19/12/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/09/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 3

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have not taken sufficient action to address the requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection.

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Summary of findings

Ongoing weaknesses in leadership, management and safeguarding practice has negatively affected children’s safety, progress, and experiences.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not have the knowledge and skills to meet children’s individual needs consistently and management oversight remains ineffective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s experiences of living at the home are mixed. One child enjoyed their time there and had a positive, well supported return to their family’s care. However, care planning for the child currently living at the home has not been effective. Leaders and managers identified the relevant risk factors before the child moved in, but their subsequent care planning failed to manage these risks effectively in practice. As a result, the child has been placed at risk, and their needs have not been met appropriately.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff relationships with the child living at the home are poor. Staff do not consistently speak about the child in a warm, positive, or therapeutic manner as outlined in the statement of purpose. They do not always listen to the child with compassion or invest meaningful time in them. The child said that they did not want to live at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Managers and staff have reported children’s behaviour to the police on numerous occasions, despite being aware of these behaviours before they moved into the home. This means that children are being criminalised for behaviour that should be understood and supported, rather than managed through police involvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not always provide children with consistent daily routines or engage them in activities that promote or support their learning. This limits children’s progress and educational outcomes. Children are spending long periods in their bedroom which is leaving them isolated. This is negatively impacting on their sense of permanence and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s health needs are not consistently met. Staff do not always support children to maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet and often allow them to eat unhealthy food, often giving in to their requests rather than promoting positive routines. .

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

Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 4 Children have missing-from-home plans; however, staff do not follow them consistently. Staff do not always start searching for a child in a timely manner or make sufficient ef- fort to locate them. On some occasions, staff have refused to collect a child from a loca- tion when they are missing from home. This places children at risk of significant harm.

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

Allegations made by children are not managed effectively. When a child made an allega- tion about a member of staff, the manager did not follow safeguarding procedures. The allegation was not clearly recorded and relevant agencies, including the local authority designated safeguarding officer, were not informed. Furthermore, the manager did not demonstrate professional curiosity when speaking to the child and failed to explore if the child felt safe. This was a missed opportunity to safeguard the child and to ensure that they were listened to and felt valued.

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

Staff do not always follow children’s risk-management plans when there is a risk of self- harm. For example, staff do not always ensure that the home environment is safe or re- move items that may be unsafe for children. This places children at risk of harm.

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

Children do not receive consistent help or support to manage their behaviour and feel- ings safely. Staff do not always understand children’s experiences, respond appropri- ately, or seek to identify the triggers for their behaviour. They lack effective de-escala- tion skills, which has led to situations where police support has been required. For the child currently living at the home, police assistance has been regularly requested to sup- port staff.

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

Staff recording of incidents is poor and the actions taken and by whom are unclear. Leaders and managers have failed to identify and address the shortfalls in recording, which means poor safeguarding practice continues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has had a period away from the home during which time the responsible individual was overseeing the home. The registered manager has since returned to work and was present during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and review systems remain ineffective. Leaders and managers do not ade- quately review or monitor children’s progress or the quality of their care. Staff practice is not consistently evaluated, and shortfalls are not routinely identified and addressed. This means that strategies to prevent further incidents are not implemented, leading to re- peated patterns of concern and limited progress for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervision does not always take place regularly. Supervision records are poor, with gaps in information and limited feedback to staff about how to improve their prac- tice. This reduces opportunities to ensure that staff practice is consistent, reflective, and developing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not always inform Ofsted of serious incidents as required in regulation. This limits the regulator’s oversight of the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 5 There is a stable staff team in place. Staff speak highly of the registered manager and the support that they receive. Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 6

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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

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 home’s child protection policies;

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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)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping the child safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there are clear plans in place for staff to follow to safeguard the child. 07 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 7 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to meet a child’s individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that leaders and managers take effective action to identify and address shortfalls in staff practice. 07 June 2026

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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.

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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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. 24 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 8 (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children are admitted to the home only if staff have the relevant knowledge and skills to meet their individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(b)) 24 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 9 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff have the knowledge and skills to support children to understand and manage their feelings and behaviour positively.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, all staff must treat children with genuine warmth and respect and build positive relationships with them.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(x))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff support the child to engage in learning and development and promote opportunities for informal learning. 24 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all records include the relevant and up to date information. 24 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 10 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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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 40 (4)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that Ofsted is informed of serious incidents and in a timely way. 24 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: SC040785 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: PIC Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Cowley Hill Lane, St. Helens WA10 2AB

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Inspectors

Nicola Rutherford, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC040785 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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