Nylah Homes Leicester

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 1 Nylah Homes Leicester Registered provider: Nylah Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

The service is owned and operated by a private provider in the East Midlands. It offers accommodation for up to 72 individuals in 19 shared homes, all of which are limited to accommodating looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, the service was providing accommodation for 36 children aged 16 and 17 years.

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provider

The organisation and the service manager registered with Ofsted in March 2025.

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provider

The nominated individual is one of the 2 directors.

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Inspection dates: 13 to 15 May 2026

The inspection was announced on 11 May 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 13 May 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.

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Summary of findings

Children have positive relationships with staff and feel that they provide good levels of support. Some children are making progress, but this is inconsistent.

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Summary of findings

The quality of accommodation varies greatly. Some homes are unkempt, unclean and poorly maintained. Some homes provide a warm and nurturing environment for children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 2 The majority of children report being happy and feeling safe. Some children have reported food and clothing being taken from their home as well as disruption from other children's visitors.

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Summary of findings

Serious incidents are not routinely reported to Ofsted.

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Summary of findings

Staff report being happy and settled in their work. Overall, they say that they receive good support from leaders and managers.

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Summary of findings

Professional feedback is mainly positive. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive support from staff in line with the organisation's statement of purpose. All 36 children using the service are suitable for supported accommodation. Referral processes have been strengthened, and an admission checklist is now in place to assess suitability and guide staff to support children with the process of moving in. For those children accepted in an emergency under the national transfer scheme, leaders and managers discuss information with the placing authority while awaiting the referral.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The majority of children report feeling safe and happy in their homes. They generally get on well and have positive bonds with peers. A sense of identity and belonging is promoted by leaders and managers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children make progress because of the support they receive from the committed staff team. Most staff build meaningful relationships with children and have a good understanding of their difficulties and vulnerabilities. This helps staff to identify when children need specific or bespoke support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children are engaged in education at the local college; one child is in full-time employment. When children are not in education, training or employment, staff work with them individually to consider different opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to familiarise themselves with the local area, registering with health professionals as well as ensuring that they can access resources for their dietary needs. Children's cultural, religious and linguistic needs are well considered when they move into the accommodation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children's homes are warm, nurturing and welcoming. However, some are unkept, unclean and smell of cannabis. Some maintenance issues have not been addressed in a timely manner and oversight is poor. These maintenance issues mean that some homes lack a welcoming atmosphere and are not somewhere that children can be proud of living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The need for individual work with children is identified quickly by staff. However, the subsequent work is not always delivered in a timely manner. There have been missed opportunities to support children on an individual basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some support plans contain old or inaccurate information for children, particularly information about their medication. This means that staff do not have the correct information about individual children or what they need, resulting in some children receiving inconsistent support. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 4

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How well children are helped and protected

Two children reported having food and clothing taken from their home as well as disruption from an authorised visitor. Leaders and managers took some action in response, but these actions were not sufficient. As a result, children felt unheard. One child had an unauthorised visitor to their home, which increased their risks. Staff took appropriate action to ensure that the visitor left and the child was kept safe.

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How well children are helped and protected

One child was discovered to have dangerous items in their bedroom, which were subsequently removed by the police. However not all staff were made aware of the finding, which meant they were not alert to the ongoing risks for this child.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff take a restorative approach to behaviour management, and there have been no restraints since the last full inspection. The staff are skilled at understanding the reasons why children's behaviour may start to decline, and act decisively to address the issues. However, the consequences for children who do not act within 'house rules' are not consistently enforced. This gives children mixed messages and may prevent them from taking personal responsibility for their behaviour and that of their visitors.

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How well children are helped and protected

Notifications made to Ofsted have improved. However, at least one serious incident involving a child was not notified. This limits Ofsted's ability to ensure that the provider has taken the necessary actions to keep children safe.

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How well children are helped and protected

Safer recruitment is robust. Children are supported by staff who are safe to work with them. When applicants do not have a clear police check, the reason is explored, understood and further scrutinised. If the staff member is employed, then a risk assessment is put in place.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children who go missing are appropriately reported to the police. However not all children receive a return home interview. Leaders and managers' challenge to the local authority has been lacking when these have not been completed. In addition, the missing policy does not accurately reflect the reporting timescales for children both in homes with staff and those who receive floating support only.

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How well children are helped and protected

There is an inconsistent approach to medication. For example, one staff member was administering medicine to a child without the registered service manager's knowledge and did not check whether this medicine was in fact needed. Children's plans listed medication that was no longer prescribed for them. Therefore, staff were working with out-of-date information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have worked hard to begin to address the shortfalls from the last full inspection and monitoring visit. Consequently, there have been some improvements, and some requirements and recommendations have been met in full. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 5 The service benefits from a stable management team, including the nominated individual and registered service manager. They are visible and accessible to staff, children and professionals. They are well supported by a quality assurance lead and deputy manager. Warm and nurturing relationships between leaders and managers and children are evident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Despite the stable team, there are some concerns about the inconsistent oversight of the homes and children. There is some disconnect between leaders and managers and those staff in the homes, meaning that information is not always shared. The introduction of a new electronic system has strengthened communication between the team, and all staff are being trained on how to use it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Homes are not routinely monitored for maintenance issues, cleanliness or smoking. Although spot checks at the homes are taking place, these are not effective. In addition, when they come on shift, staff do not always receive full handovers with accurate and up-to-date information about what has been happening in individual homes. This has meant that some staff have not been aware of significant incidents and concerns regarding children's behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Oversight of children's plans is not consistent as some information is either out of date or not reflective of the current situation. Although staff have received appropriate training on the new plans, there remains some confusion over when and what to update. Managers' comments on documents are not always reflective or sufficiently challenging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The staff feel confident in their work as they feel well supported by leaders and managers in the organisation. Staff receive regular supervision sessions and access relevant training to support their work with children. Regional team meetings and home-specific meetings are held regularly with staff and these allow reflective discussions to take place about their practice with children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 6

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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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the 'Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards'. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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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 children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

keep the child's support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child's needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 1 August 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 premises used as supported accommodation—

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Requirement Due date

provide stability and consistency of accommodation for children;

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Requirement Due date

are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child individually and all children collectively; 1 August 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 7 are suitable for the purposes of supported accommodation and are accessible, safe, secure and well-maintained;

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Requirement Due date

offer a comfortable, positive and nurturing environment, while respecting children's need for privacy;

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Requirement Due date

are adequately maintained so as to provide a welcoming and homely environment within both individual and shared living spaces;

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Requirement Due date

are designed, furnished and maintained to remove avoidable hazards which could pose a health and safety risk to children. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry);

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Requirement Due date

there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f)) 18 May 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 8

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that for young people who may need additional support with their medications, staff support the young person to ensure safe medication practices, such as providing a lockable medication box, helping the young person to set alarms or reminders to take their medications, and so on. In some instances, if the young person requests it, staff may assist with the storing and managing of certain medicines if this assistance is in support of the young person's journey to do this with increasing autonomy in the future and stay safe while doing so. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 39)  The registered provider should ensure that the registered service manager can effectively supervise the management of all the settings in the service and will also be accountable if the registered service manager fails to do this. The registered provider must have an appropriate structure in place, including

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Recommendations

leadership and management arrangements, which consider and reflect the breadth, scope and geographical reach of the service being offered. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 50)  The registered person should ensure that their missing child policy has clear measures to keep all children safe and to report any child missing from their home within appropriate timescales. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 54-55)  The registered person should ensure that they actively scrutinise the settings and make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 53)  The registered person should ensure that they prepare and consistently implement a behaviour management policy that sets out how appropriate

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Recommendations

behaviour is to be promoted in the service. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 56)

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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: Nylah Homes Leicester 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Nylah Homes Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Hillary Katiyo

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: directors@nylahhomes.co.uk

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Inspectors:

Emily Stevens, Social Care Inspector Leah Stannard, Social Care Inspector Helen Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Nylah Homes Leicester 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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