Children's Home run by Brinscall Care (NW) Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 1 Registered provider: Brinscall Care (NW) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company. It provides care for up to 3 children with social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager has recently been appointed. They have submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home. All the children were spoken to during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/07/2025 Full Good 21/05/2024 Full Good 11/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 3

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Summary of findings

There are serious shortfalls in help and protection that have impacted on children’s safety and overall experiences. The responsible individual and previous manager do not always recognise, assess or respond appropriately to children’s known risks and vulnerabilities.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not always take sufficient action when children raise concerns. On one occasion, one child raised concerns about the behaviour of another child. Staff did not recognise the significance of the information shared or take prompt action to safeguard children. This left children at risk of harm.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not consistently follow safeguarding processes. Risk management strategies do not always protect children. This means that children are vulnerable to harm.

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Summary of findings

Despite these significant shortfalls, children have developed positive relationships with staff. Children say that there are some staff members whom they feel comfortable speaking to.

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Summary of findings

Staff support children to spend time with their families, access activities in the community and engage in education. However, one child does not consistently receive care and support that is tailored to their individual needs and level of understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s overall progress and experiences are adversely affected by shortfalls in management oversight and staff safeguarding practices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to access a variety of activities in their local community. Activity books are kept which contain photos of children’s experiences. These are personalised and accessible to children. They document their time living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff plan activities for children to enjoy with their families and supervise where necessary. This supports children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have developed positive relationships with staff. Children enjoy spending time with staff and speak positively about many of the staff who care for them. Staff spend time playing and interacting with children. This has created an environment where children enjoy spending time with the adults who care for them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 4 Children said that they experience more rewards than consequences. When staff put consequences in place, these are fair and proportionate. One child said that staff are good at explaining the reason behind consequences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Two children are in full-time education. Staff are supporting the other child with home- schooling due to current barriers in place to accessing full-time education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are positive examples of individual staff practice. Staff use key-work sessions to help a child with complex communication needs to understand their feelings. However, staff do not use this approach consistently. Staff do not always plan key-work sessions that are tailored to the child’s specific needs and level of understanding. Therefore, this is not always effective in helping the child to understand what is expected of them.

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

Staff do not always take appropriate action to keep children safe. Two children said that they do not feel safe and that staff do not always take their concerns seriously. The responsible individual and interim manager took immediate action to implement strategies to reduce risk.

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

Risk assessments are in place that include children’s risks and vulnerabilities. However, the responsible individual and managers do not consistently recognise, evaluate or respond to these risks appropriately. The previous manager and the responsible individual have minimised safeguarding concerns and have not considered how children’s needs and vulnerabilities can be managed safely together. As a result, the needs of all the children have not been consistently balanced. This has impacted on their ability to keep children safe.

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

Leaders and managers do not follow robust safeguarding procedures when children make allegations. This leaves children at risk of harm.

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

Although door alarms are in place, staff do not always check that children’s doors are closed at night or that alarms work. This could impact on children’s safety. The provider did take action to implement strategies to manage this risk.

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

Physical intervention is rarely used by staff. When incidents do occur, records do not demonstrate that these incidents are managed in line with regulation.

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

There are shortfalls in safe recruitment practices. The previous manager did not ensure that new staff were safely recruited. Information shared by the Disclosure and Barring Service about one new staff member was not evaluated by the previous manager, and no action was taken to mitigate any risk. Not all employment references are verbally verified. This does not ensure that all staff caring for the children are safe to do so. Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is no registered manager in post. A new manager has been recruited, and she has made an application to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual and the previous manager have not maintained effective oversight of the quality of care provided to children. Monitoring and review processes have not identified or addressed weaknesses in staff practice. As a result, the previous manager did not recognise patterns of concern or take effective action to improve staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The previous manager did not consistently review incidents and safeguarding concerns. Therefore, they did not identify shortfalls in staff safeguarding and caring practices. This is a missed opportunity to continually improve the quality of care that staff provide for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual and previous manager have not ensured that the independent visitor has routinely consulted with a range of people involved in the children’s lives. This has limited the effectiveness of independent monitoring and reduced opportunities to identify areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

On one occasion, the acting manager did not report a significant safeguarding incident to the relevant local authority and Ofsted in line with regulation. This impacts on the regulator’s ability to monitor the home and ensure that children are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff speak positively about the support they receive from the current manager. The manager has started to identify areas that need to improve. Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 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 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that staff have specific strategies to follow to manage children’s vulnerabilities and risks. This is specifically in relation to sexualised behaviours.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that staff supervise children in line with their plans. This includes supervising children appropriately at nighttime. 13 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 7 *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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that risks and children’s vulnerabilities are appropriately assessed and that children’s plans include clear strategies for staff to reduce risk.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise safeguarding concerns and take appropriate action.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that there are clear processes and procedures in place to robustly assess children’s changing needs. 13 July 2026

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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;

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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— 3 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 8 ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the manager must ensure that all staff support children in line with their developmental needs.

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Requirement Due date

Each child’s care must reflect their individual needs and care plans.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the manager must ensure that the independent visitor consults regularly with a range of stakeholders as part of their assessment of the home. 3 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and 3 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 9 the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(iv)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that any physical interventions are recorded in line with regulation.

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2710949 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Brinscall Care (NW) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Peel House, 30 The Downs, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 2PX

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Inspector

Bethany Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2710949 11 and inspects 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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