Children's Home run by Northwest Youth Services Limited in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2677302 1 Registered provider: Northwest Youth Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties, and who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager at the home since 11 November 2025. The manager in post has not yet applied to register with Ofsted as the provider has applied to cancel their registration of this home.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection there was one child living in this home, although other children have lived at the home during this inspection period.

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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 good

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good

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

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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: 2677302 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2025 Full Good 29/05/2024 Full Good 05/09/2023 Full Good 15/06/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2677302 3

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Summary of findings

The manager shows strong ambition for developing the home and ensuring high ‑ quality care for children. The manager has implemented systems to ensure her oversight is enhanced. Staff said that they feel supported, and professionals speak highly of the manager and her proactive approach.

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Summary of findings

The child living at the home is safely cared for and has good relationships with staff. The child has opportunities to develop their own interests and has a strong sense of identity in a way that reflects their age and development.

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Summary of findings

Staff ensure that children are healthy and education is promoted, with the manager and staff advocating for children when necessary. Staff recognise children’s achievements and support them to maintain positive links with those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at the home has a sense of belonging, feels accepted and values living as part of a family unit. The manager and staff have formed good relationships with the child, which has supported them to feel understood, loved and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s core health needs are being met. The child is active and enjoys participating in activities of their choice. Their physical health is reported to be good, and the child attends all health appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has been a good advocate for ensuring that the child receives a good standard of education that is tailored to meet their individual needs. Health and wellbeing is promoted, with lots of additional support offered by staff when needed. Professional feedback highlights how proactive the manager is at advocating for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children have moved into the home, planning and consideration for other children living in the home has been thorough. However, on one occasion the manager was unable to fully risk assess some of the presenting issues for one child. This was due to a lack of information from the placing authority, which resulted in the child needing to leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children that have moved out have had good plans to ensure that they experience smooth transitions and positive endings. Children maintain contact with staff and, where appropriate and safe to do so, children have also met up and spent time together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create a nice welcoming homely feel to the home with photographs and belongings of children on display giving them some ownership of their surroundings. Inspection report for children’s home: 2677302 4

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

The child is kept safe by staff who know the child well. Staff have clear instructions in the child’s risk assessments on which steps to take if the child is at risk of harm.

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

Staff worked hard to protect previous children who have lived in the home. Their risk assessments were regularly reviewed but have not always reflected the correct level of risk. Despite this staff have acted swiftly and appropriately and this has had no impact for the children involved.

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

When children have gone missing from the home staff respond immediately. This includes following children, catching trains and buses in an attempt to keep them safe and encourage them to return home. Staff follow the children’s risk assessments to ensure that they have been reported missing to the police in a timely manner. When children return home, they have the opportunity to speak to somebody independent about their experiences.

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

Staff work sensitively in partnership with children to help educate them in areas such as sexual health and what is appropriate and healthy. Some staff do this with care, empathy and understanding.

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

When children make historical allegations, staff deal with these appropriately and report them to the manager who ensures that the information is well managed and shared with the relevant people.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviours most effectively by drawing on their trusting, secure relationships that they have built with each child. Consequences are rarely used and they are natural and used as a learning experience for children.

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

There has been a very small number of occasions when staff have needed to physically hold or guide children to keep children safe. However, the lack of consistency means that children are not always given the opportunity to process the incident, repair relationships or receive the emotional support that they need. Since the new leadership at the home, practice in this area has been strengthened and a more robust child centred post incident process is now followed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager demonstrates an ambition for developing the home and ensuring high ‑ quality care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is creative and enthusiastic about children having new experiences and being allowed to explore the world outside of the home in a planned and measured way, and in conjunction with the local authority. Inspection report for children’s home: 2677302 5 The manager has clear oversight of the home and carries out consistent weekly audits. This allows her to ensure that the home is running smoothly and that any potential issues can be spotted and addressed quickly. Her focus is providing high quality care and responses to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing is sufficient to meet the needs of the child living at the home. Staff are safely recruited, and newly recruited staff receive an induction and development plan. This includes in-depth probation reviews and regular supervisions to monitor their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals spoken to all report how positive the communication is between the manager and staff and themselves. They are kept fully up to date about the children that they are supporting.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that the manager is supportive, and how they all love working in the home. Staff said that the team all work well together and are like one big family. The change in management has been noticed by other professionals who commented, ‘I have noticed a real difference since [name of manager] has been the manager. She is very proactive which has allowed [name of child] to have more independence, which they needed given their age.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2677302 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that case records must be kept up to date and in particular the level of risk should be graded to reflect the actual risk posed to a child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standard’, page 62 , paragraph 14.13)

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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: 2677302 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northwest Youth Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Frazer Waite Desmier, Peine House, 1 Hind Hill Street, Heywood OL10 1JZ

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Inspector

Angela Ross, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2677302 8 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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