Children's Home run by Cranmead Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 1 Registered provider: Cranmead Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in December 2025 and is owned and operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 3 children who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager is vacant.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 2

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Summary of findings

The home is graded requires improvement to be good due to decisions made by leaders and managers to move children into the home quickly and without appropriate assessment. As a result of these decisions, risks for children escalated, and they were unable to settle in the home. The provider served notice on both children who came to live in the home; one child has already moved out.

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Summary of findings

Children moved into the home without sufficient staffing levels in place, which resulted in the use of temporary and agency staff. Managers have been unable to ensure that staff receive suitable opportunities for training, induction and supervision to support their care for children. Children have not experienced consistency in staffing or responses, which has affected their ability to build safe and trusting relationships.

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Summary of findings

Leaders have failed to maintain effective oversight of the home and provide suitable support to the registered manager and staff. The manager resigned from his role in the home. Leaders and managers have recognised their shortfalls and are pausing operations to improve and fully recruit.

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improvement to be good

Managers have not been child focused when making decisions for children to move into the home. Two children moved in within 24 hours of each other, without staff or children having time to learn about each other and the routines of the home. There were insufficient staff to respond to the needs of the 2 children. As a result, a high number of temporary agency staff were used. This impeded the children’s ability to form safe and trusting relationships to help them settle in the home.

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improvement to be good

Managers have failed to adhere to their location risk assessment guidance when considering new admissions. Managers did not allow sufficient time to fully assess compatibility, emerging risks and the impact of children’s needs on one another before a further admission to the home was made. As a result, exposure to each other’s behaviour has negatively impacted children. The known risks for one child increased, and immediate notice was served for their welfare.

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improvement to be good

The home is generally well decorated and suitably furnished, and it has resources relevant to the children’s interests. All communal areas of the home are clean; however, one child has not received adequate support to maintain the cleanliness of their personal space.

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improvement to be good

Communication and information-sharing with external professionals has been inconsistent . Leaders and managers have delayed sharing appropriate and accurate information with children’s placing authorities. Staff have been inconsistent in seeking Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 3 external support and advice. Leaders and managers have not shared sufficient details in their communications with external agencies.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met. They receive timely support from staff to access GPs, dentists, opticians and sexual health services as necessary. As a result, children are in good physical health.

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improvement to be good

Children have opportunities to have fun. There is a timetable of activities, which children are encouraged to participate in. Children’s views are considered, and activities planned are tailored to their interests. Children access a range of recreational activities and clubs, including ice skating, climbing, trampolining and drama groups.

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improvement to be good

Allegations against staff are managed well. Information is appropriately escalated to the local authority designated officer and the child’s social worker. Investigations into concerns are prompt, and the learning identified is shared with the staff team. Managers have taken time to feed back to children. As a result, children are aware of the actions taken.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff working with children have suitable training and skills to respond to their individual needs. A reliance on online training courses has not enabled managers to ensure that staff are competent and confident in using emergency strategies, including ligature removal and de-escalation. Staff have provided timely support to children. However, there has been an increased use of emergency intervention services.

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improvement to be good

When restraint has been used, it has been a reasonable and proportionate intervention to keep children safe. However, managers have failed to provide suitable training to staff working with children who may require physical intervention to manage their behaviour. As a result, there was an incident in the home when a child was restrained by an untrained staff member. Records of restraint are maintained. However, managers have not reviewed incidents of restraint within the required timescales to ensure that staff have the opportunity to discuss their experiences and that learning is embedded into practice.

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improvement to be good

Managers have failed to maintain suitable and timely oversight of incidents in the home. There are significant delays in managers reviewing incidents, which has resulted in further delays in sharing information with professionals and reviewing wider safety planning. This has also meant that new information and risks have not been captured in children’s ongoing risk management and guidance for staff. As a result, risks for one child have not been suitably managed, and immediate notice has been served to the placing authority. Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 4

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

Leaders and managers have failed to establish a culture that provides children with consistent care and support. Decisions to place children quickly, without sufficient consideration of location, a comprehensive assessment of individual needs, and adequate time to identify and manage risks among the children, have hindered their ability to settle in the home.

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

Children were placed in the home when there was insufficient staffing in place. Temporary staffing was used immediately upon children’s admission to the home and has remained in place throughout. The organisation has had difficulty employing a deputy manager, which has resulted in an increased workload for the registered manager. The manager subsequently resigned, and there is currently no manager appointed to oversee the home.

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

Leaders and managers have not carried out checks to ensure that temporary staff at the home have sufficient skills, training and experience to work with children. Agency staff members do not have training that aligns with that offered by the organisation or meets the needs of children living at the home. As a result, agency members of staff have been unable to respond appropriately during incidents.

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

The systems in place to monitor the quality of care, support, induction and supervision have been ineffective. Leaders and managers have not identified suitable strategies to ensure that supervision sessions and inductions are suitably planned and that staff benefit from a range of enriching training and development opportunities before being left in charge of the home. Inexperienced staff have been leading shifts with untrained and unqualified agency workers. In addition, a lack of supervision has affected morale, and staff have vented their frustration with organisational decisions in a manner that children have noticed.

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

Leaders have identified widespread failures that negatively impact the quality of care and support for children. They have started to consider and create plans to respond to the concerns they have identified. In response to the manager’s resignation, they have decided to temporarily pause operations to enable a review of their processes for supervision, induction and admissions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 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 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, before children move into the home, leaders and managers should ensure that they appropriately assess risks for children, including ensuring that risks in relation to the home’s location are adequately explored.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers should ensure that staff have the skills and training required to respond to children’s risks and should support the staff in providing effective day-to-day care. 21 June 2026

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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 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 6 promotes their welfare.

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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;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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)(a)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers should ensure that children are only admitted to the home if there are enough suitably trained and experienced staff to care for the children.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must implement monitoring systems that enable them to maintain oversight of supervision frequency, incidents, training, induction and staff support.

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Requirement Due date

Managers must take prompt action to address any areas they identify for improvement or shortfalls in practice.

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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. 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that there is a process in place for assessing the home’s capacity to meet children’s needs, in line with the statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, leaders and managers should implement a process that enables children to have suitable opportunities and support to settle in the home, including opportunities to build relationships with staff.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(a)(b)) 21 June 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: 2864625 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 117 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2AF

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Inspector

Georgia Carty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2864625 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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