Staffordshire Supported Accommodation

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Staffordshire Supported Accommodation 1 Staffordshire Supported Accommodation Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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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 the local authority. The service can accommodate approximately 24 children and young people in 16 supported lodgings homes. At the time of this inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 6 children.

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provider

The registered service manager has been in post since 23 October 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 11 May 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site on 13 and 14 May 2026.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 3 years.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are enthusiastic and committed to supporting children to make progress. Children make progress as a result. Children feel happy and safe where they live. They live in welcoming, well-maintained homes. Hosts form strong, positive relationships with children, and children feel happy and optimistic about their futures. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Staffordshire Supported Accommodation 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Hosts know and understand children’s needs well, and this supports children to make progress. Children are happy and have trusted relationships with the adults they live with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Hosts are ambitious for children and support them to engage in education, employment or training. Where children are not accessing education or employment, there are clear plans in place to improve this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Hosts support children effectively to develop independent living skills, which helps them to feel optimistic about their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Hosts support children to remain in good health. Where there are concerns, hosts are proactive in taking steps to address them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children know how to make a complaint if needed. However, no child has felt the need to make a complaint about the support they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers ensure that children’s needs are well considered by prospective host so they can assess whether they have the experience and skills to support the children effectively. However, the recording of how decisions are made is minimal.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not ensure that record-keeping accurately reflects all of children’s life experiences. This could impact on a child’s opportunities to understand their life history.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that children have information about the support they will receive, and who from, before they move in. This could cause unnecessary anxiety for children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Hosts ensure that children feel safe and supported where they live. Children can identify a trusted adult who they would speak to if they needed help. One child said, ‘She’s like my therapist. I can talk to her about all my problems.’

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How well children are helped and protected

Hosts have a clear understanding of what to do should a child go missing from home. The low number of instances of children going missing from home suggests that children are settled where they live.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff ensure that there is a good response to safeguarding incidents, which ensures children are kept safe. However, not all significant incidents are reported to Ofsted, which limits the regulator’s oversight.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers challenge referring authorities effectively when plans for a child are not working. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Staffordshire Supported Accommodation 3 Leaders and managers ensure that there is a thorough recruitment process to ensure that hosts are safe to work with children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Hosts know and understand potential risks to children and how to respond. However, one on occasion, one host did not exercise sufficient curiosity about a child’s relationship with an older male. The male was subsequently considered to be a potential risk to the child.

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How well children are helped and protected

Hosts ensure that children live in homely, welcoming environments, which promotes their sense of belonging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The service is managed effectively and efficiently by a permanent and suitably experienced registered service manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff are suitably knowledgeable about the service. They have a good understanding of children’s needs and of the hosts they support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers maintain good communication with professionals and ensure they are kept up to date with children’s progress and emerging needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers ensure that hosts feel well supported. Hosts report always being able to contact someone for advice when they need it. This ensures children’s needs are consistently met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are enthusiastic about the service. They regularly review the quality of support children receive and are open to making continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have not recruited a suitably experienced nominated individual. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Staffordshire Supported Accommodation 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 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 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

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

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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)(d)(i)(ii)(f)) 26 June 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all records support children to understand their life history and the reasons decisions were made. This includes information about where and why children were placed and how they moved on. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 58) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Staffordshire Supported Accommodation 5

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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: Staffordshire Supported Accommodation 6

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 1 Staffordshire Place, Stafford, Staffordshire ST16 2DH

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Nominated individual:

Registered service manager: Andrea Johnson

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Nominated individual:

Email address: fosteringengagement@staffordshire.gov.uk

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Inspectors

Amie Pearson, Social Care Inspector Amanda Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Staffordshire Supported Accommodation 7 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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