Children's Home run by Icare Solutions Stockport Limited in Warrington

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 1 Registered provider: Icare Solutions Stockport Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for one child who may experience emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The home registered with Ofsted in July 2024. There is currently no registered manager.

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Information about this children's home

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

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the compliance notices issued at the full inspection.

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This monitoring visit

Following the last full inspection, an interim manager was appointed; however, they left the post in March 2026. Since their departure, it has not been possible to determine what management arrangements have been in place.

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This monitoring visit

Staffing rotas do not clearly identify who has been acting in a leadership capacity and therefore do not demonstrate consistent managerial oversight. In addition, the home's daily logbook should record key events and the staff present. However, it contains a 10 ‑ day period with no entries at all. This lack of recorded management presence means that there is no reliable evidence that day-to-day practice has been appropriately monitored or supervised.

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This monitoring visit

The child's plans identify the risks that are relevant to them and provide guidance on the actions that staff should take to respond to and reduce these risks. However, the plans do not accurately set out the level of supervision the child requires. They also fail to specify how much time the child can safely spend alone in the community or Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 2 how this should be monitored in practice. As a result, staff are restricting the child from leaving the home unless they are under continuous supervision. This contradicts the local authority's plan, significantly limits the child's independence and raises concerns about whether the level of restriction being applied is proportionate.

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This monitoring visit

Staff report that they understand the risks associated with criminal exploitation and substance misuse. They took appropriate action when concerns arose about the child communicating with an unknown person. Despite this, staff did not follow the child's risk plan, and the child was able to leave the home without staff knowledge and appropriate supervision. The child was subsequently reported missing, exposing them to significant harm. Management oversight of this incident did not identify any learning or actions required to strengthen safeguarding practice, meaning that opportunities to improve staff responses to risk have been missed.

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This monitoring visit

When concerns have arisen about the child's cannabis misuse, staff have not consistently carried out room searches in line with the child's risk plan. As a result, opportunities to identify and address substance-related risks have been missed. The child is also not being fully supported to understand the dangers associated with cannabis use.

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This monitoring visit

The home's policy states that vaping is not permitted. However, staff continue to allow the child to use vapes. This not only compromises the child's health but, given that staff do not know how the child obtains vapes, may also indicate potential exploitation that has not been fully explored or addressed.

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This monitoring visit

Although incidents of the child going missing from the home have reduced, staff provide the child with high ‑ value monetary items as rewards for remaining in the home. This approach is unrealistic, unsustainable and does not reflect good childcare practice with clear structures and boundaries. Professional boundaries with some staff are also blurred. The child refers to staff as 'his friends', and this has not been explored or addressed to ensure that appropriate professional boundaries are maintained to protect both the child and staff.

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This monitoring visit

Further concerns were identified regarding the honesty and integrity of staff. Staff provided inspectors with inaccurate information about who had been covering shifts in the home, including waking ‑ night arrangements. Some of this incorrect information was also repeated by the child, indicating that misleading accounts may have been shared with them. This raises significant concerns about staff conduct and the reliability of information used to oversee the child's care.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers recognised the need for additional staffing to reduce the risk of the child going missing from home. However, this action was not implemented, and the child has since been missing overnight on 2 separate occasions. On one occasion, staff were unaware that the child had left the home until the following morning. On the second occasion, the child left the home through a window while staff were present. Staff took no action to search for the child or attempt to locate them. Leaders and managers responded reactively by completing a lessons learned Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 3 exercise, but these incidents could have been prevented had action been taken when the staffing shortfall was first identified.

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This monitoring visit

Safer recruitment practices have not been followed. A member of staff was appointed and working in the home prior to safer recruitment processes being completed. Although there has been no impact for the child, this does not give assurances that staff employed by the provider are safe to work in the home.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers do not have consistent oversight of incidents. Incidents of poor practice have not been reviewed and evaluated to consider how practice can be improved. Although staff have received some training that is relevant to the child, the impact of this cannot always be seen in practice.

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This monitoring visit

The requirement under regulation 37 made at the full inspection has been restated.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2026 Full Inadequate 24/06/2025 Full Inadequate 30/10/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 4

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

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)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to safeguard children effectively and show professional curiosity during incidents, complete accurate records, verify children's accounts and make appropriate enquiries when there are indicators of potential risk. 5 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 5 *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

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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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'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; and

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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)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is clear oversight of incidents and children's records to review the quality of care and address and identify shortfalls. Leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive training that is specific to children's needs and evaluate the effectiveness of this on staff practice. 5 July 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. 5 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child's placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that assessments of children's suitability to live at the home are carefully considered alongside the staff's skills, experience and ability to meet their needs.

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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

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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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

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; 5 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 7 maintain regular contact with each child's education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child's education and training and to maximise the child's achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child's education or training provider and the child's placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, attention is needed to ensure that the home is maintained to an appropriate standard for the children to live in, such as through redecoration. 5 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children's home. The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and 5 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 8 retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must maintain an accurate copy of the staff duty rota, detailing all relevant information of persons working in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child's placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child's age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child's need for privacy.

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Requirement Due date

This regulation is subject to any monitoring or surveillance requirements imposed by a court. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2)) 5 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject of a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children's home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Icare Solutions Stockport Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 101 Wellington Road North, Stockport SK4 2LP

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Inspectors

Nicola Forrester, Social Care Inspector Kitty Wiper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2779064 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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