Children's Home run by Unique Care Homes Support Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2503306 1 Registered provider: Unique Care Homes Support Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to 6 children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home. All 3 children were spoken to.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has managed the home since late 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 16 September 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2503306 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/09/2025 Full Good 19/03/2025 Full Good 14/02/2024 Full Good 27/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2503306 3

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Summary of findings

Overall, staff and managers in the home ensure children are making progress, and they work hard to keep children safe. Staff respond to incidents and ensure children are listened to. The manager is beginning to address shortfalls in practice, however, there are areas where this could be improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to create a welcoming home for children in their care. They spend time personalising children’s bedrooms and include them in decisions about how they would like to decorate the rest of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are actively sought, with monthly meetings led by the manager providing a structured opportunity for children to share what is important to them and influence decisions about day-to-day life, including menus, activities and future plans. Although the recorded minutes are brief, they demonstrate that children feel able to express their views and that these are considered. In addition, key-work sessions further support the child’s voice, covering a wide range of topics such as emotional wellbeing, community safety and adjusting to living in the home. However, some of the language used in these sessions can be perceived as blaming children. This has been recognised and raised with staff, and the manager has begun to address and improve practice in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves into and out of the home are well assessed. Assessments cover key areas for the children and consider the children already living in the home. Generally, staff planning is child focused and there is a focus on learning from unplanned moves to ensure that practice continues to be reflective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have taken proactive steps to support children who are out of education, including advocating with education professionals, developing structured daily timetables and facilitating in-home learning and educational activities in the community. This has helped provide children with some routine and continuity, reinforcing the importance of education and maintaining engagement when possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their family and maintain and develop relationships with the people who matter to them

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

Risk assessments are in place for children. The assessments are detailed and assess risk appropriately. Specialist advice has been gathered when completing risk assessments, which has helped staff to better understand children’s needs and vulnerabilities. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503306 4 Staff support children, who say they feel safe. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the risks to individual children and how to respond appropriately. However, staff have acknowledged that responses are not always consistent, particularly in relation to maintaining clear boundaries. This inconsistency has, at times, contributed to incidents that may otherwise have been de-escalated more effectively, highlighting the need for greater consistency in practice to further strengthen children’s safety and stability.

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

When staff have had to hold children, this has generally been proportionate. However, staff records of interventions lack detail and debriefs with children and staff are not consistently held. This means children’s views about the interventions are not always captured.

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

When children go missing from home, there is a swift and comprehensive response from staff. Staff alert the appropriate services, including police, and work with other agencies to locate children and bring them home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leadership and management of the home require improvement. While shortfalls in practice have been identified by managers and action plans are in place, these are not yet fully embedded in day-to-day practice. Management oversight is at times delayed, resulting in areas that need improvement being either missed or not addressed in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently apply the home’s therapeutic ethos in their practice or writing. Some language used to describe children blames them for their vulnerabilities. Records often focus on establishing ‘the truth’ rather than providing a balanced reflection of the child’s experiences and emotional needs. There have also been occasions when staff have not been able to effectively support and care for the children, which has impacted on their safety in the home. On one occasion, this contributed to a child being arrested. Staff responses at the time reflected a blaming approach and did not demonstrate sufficient reflection on the child’s needs or underlying factors contributing to the incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Supervisions are not held in line with the statement of purpose. One new member of staff did not receive supervision for 7 weeks and another for 8 weeks. Supervisions lack detail and do not regularly discuss children or incidents. Support for staff is not consistent, which has contributed to compassion fatigue, ultimately placing the children at further risk of staff not being able to adequately support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Complaints are thoroughly investigated by the registered manager. Children are sent letters telling them the outcome and what work the manager has completed. Children’s experiences are put first, and learning is identified from complaints. For example, a child felt uncomfortable in the car with an agency worker, due to their driving. This worker has not returned to the home and new workers must now be comfortable in the home’s car before driving with children, to ensure the children feel safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503306 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that documents are updated, using non-stigmatising language. There must be consistent recording of debriefs and supervision for staff. Furthermore, management oversight should ensure the ethos and statement of purpose of the home are central to work completed with children. 31 July 2026

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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: 2503306 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unique Care Homes Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspectors

John McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Louisa West, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2503306 7 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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