Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 1 Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s Registered provider: Moving On (Durham) Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a charity. The provider operates 15 self-contained single occupant units where the accommodation is for the sole use of the child.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, the service provided support for 15 looked-after children or care leavers, aged 16 and 17 years.

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provider

The service operates within 3 different models of support. The first model is for the sole use of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. A support worker is available from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, in this model.

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provider

The second model is for children who are part of a 'staying close' model of support. This service provides support for children who have previously lived in children's homes or fostering arrangements. The provider supports children for up to 3 hours each week, while the placing authorities' 'staying close team' provides children with an additional 16 hours of support each week.

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provider

The third model of support is for looked-after children or care leavers. The provider supports these children for up to 3 hours each week in dispersed accommodation.

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provider

The manager registered with Ofsted when the charity was registered in December 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 13 April 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 22 April 2026 to 23 April 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children's experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 2

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Summary of findings

Staff are invested in children and show a genuine interest in their lives. This helps children to feel supported and settle into their new homes quickly.

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from specialist workers who respond flexibly to meet children's social and emotional needs. One of these specialist workers focuses on children engaging in employment, training or education. This impacts positively on children's outcomes in this area.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not yet have sufficient monitoring systems in place to ensure that the service operates in line with regulation or their own policies and procedures and statement of purpose. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children move into their home shortly before their 18 th birthday. They are invited to live in their home with support from a consistent staff member until they are 21 years old. This provides children and young people who are leaving care with additional help and support to manage their first tenancy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive support from both the staff who work for this organisation and their placing authorities' 'staying close' support workers. Children said they have positive relationships with both staff teams and feel confident to ask for help when they need it. This model of support ensures that when children's needs increase, support staff have the resources to respond quickly so that children remain safe and their needs are met. Equally, in this model of support there is a clear focus on ensuring that children are aware of, and receiving, their rights, benefits and entitlements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

When children move into their new home, they do not always have all their belongings. For some children, this approach to a gradual move in, over a planned period, is helpful and intended to be part of their planned move. However, for others, a delay in being supported to bring their personal items has been a cause for concern and has resulted in children not being able to settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from a wellbeing support worker who plans, organises and coordinates a range of group and individual sessions. These sessions focus on developing links with education, training and employment opportunities. Children also take part in physical and mental wellbeing activities, such as organised group walks, yoga and mindfulness. Children are actively engaged in these sessions and look forward to taking part.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Although leaders and managers carry out safety assessments of the location where children live, they do not keep these assessments under regular review. For example, crime data is no longer accurate and the locality assessments do not consider all the known risks in the local area in line with children's individual needs. This is a missed opportunity to ensure the safety and suitability of each location before a child moves in.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children said they feel safe and settled where they live. They could identify a trusted adult who they would talk to about any concerns or worries they have. Children said that staff and managers respond to their concerns and this helps them to feel valued and heard.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff know and understand children's individual vulnerabilities. They have a wide range of skills to help children to stay safe from risks, such as domestic violence. They work closely with other agencies who offer children support in specialist areas. Equally, direct work helps children to learn how to stay safe. However, on some Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 4 occasions, delays in carrying out direct work with children occur because of the limited support arrangements.

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How well children are helped and protected

The recruitment procedures do not ensure that staff are safe to work with children before they commence their employment. Widespread shortfalls were identified that include, but are not limited to, references being provided by friends instead of recent and relevant employers, gaps in employment not being identified and references and Disclosure and Barring Service checks being carried out on the day employment commenced. As a result, leaders and managers are not assured that staff are safe and suitable to work with children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children's support plans lack detail about their known needs. Equally, the overall quality of children's records is poor. To compensate for the poor detail, staff use their knowledge and initiative to support children. However, this approach is not always consistent. As a result, leaders and managers cannot be assured that the relevant support for each child is being provided to meet their individual needs.

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How well children are helped and protected

When children require support outside of office hours, they must seek this through the local authority's emergency duty team, whose resource may not be appropriate to meet the child's needs. Examples of this are when children need emotional support or they need a home repair, such as for a broken boiler. This means that children must wait until the support service reopens the following day before their needs can be met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager and her team are enthusiastic about the children who live in the service's accommodation. The manager has an abundance of knowledge about each child and her investment in the children is evident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Since the last inspection, the registered service manager and her team have worked hard to adapt and improve their systems, policies and procedures to align with regulation. The manager recognises that there are areas that require improvements and she is keen to make further changes to strengthen practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

A new mandatory training programme better equips staff with the skills, knowledge and information they require to carry out their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. The new training aligns with children's individual needs, such as understanding the contextual safeguarding needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Staff now respond appropriately when children are at potential risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff feel supported by the manager. They said that she is both approachable and available when they require support, guidance or advice. Weekly meetings provide an opportunity to share any worries or concerns about individual children. However, staff identified that their workload is high and this often results in limited time spent with children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 5 The registered service manager does not have a formal monitoring system to ensure that she has good oversight of children's needs, vulnerabilities or progress. Equally, her lack of monitoring and scrutiny of organisational systems, such as recruitment and the quality of recording, have led to a failure in identifying shortfalls in practice. This limits the manager's ability to improve practice and ensure that children are achieving their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not inform Ofsted about changes in their organisation structure. For example, they do inform Ofsted of the appointment of new trustees into roles such as the safeguarding lead, where they become involved in decision- making that impacts children. As a result, Ofsted is unable to carry out their own suitability checks on these individuals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered manager has made some improvements to the way the organisation carries out their quality of support review, which is now shared with Ofsted in a timely manner. However, this does not reflect how the service ensures that its practice is underpinned by relevant research. This is a missed opportunity to strengthen practice in the organisation. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 6

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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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the 'Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including 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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking's statement of purpose. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)) 14 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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

have 24-hour access to help in a crisis or emergency situation. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(a)(iv)) 14 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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 the location of the premises used as supported accommodation is suitable for the category or categories of supported accommodation provided, by—

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Requirement Due date

reviewing the appropriateness and suitability of the location of each of the premises used as supported accommodation 14 June 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 7 ("a location assessment"), and in doing so, consulting and taking into account the views of each relevant person;

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Requirement Due date

carrying out a location assessment of each of the premises used as supported accommodation at least once in each calendar year. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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 plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(b)) 14 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (4), the registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 1. (Regulation 17 (1) (2)(d)) 14 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review ("a quality of support review") at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met. (Regulation 32 (1)(d)) 14 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice in writing to the CIECSS, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered provider is an organisation—

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Requirement Due date

any change of director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the organisation. (Regulation 34 (1)(e)(ii)) 14 June 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that each premises is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of young people. They will always be homely and welcoming environments. Supported accommodation settings must comply with relevant health and safety legislation. However, in doing so, settings should seek as much as possible to maintain a domestic rather than 'institutional' impression. Providers should take the children's needs into consideration to ensure that they are providing the right facilities. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards, page 29)

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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: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Moving On (Durham) Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Rachael Bruce

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: info@movingondurham.org.uk

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Inspectors

Beth Forster, Social Care Inspector Steve James, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Moving On Supported Accommodation for under 18s 10 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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