Children's Home run by Northridge Care Group Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 1 Registered provider: Northridge Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and may have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home. One child was spoken to by the inspector.

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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 and/or widespread failures that mean children are not protected, or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 14 January 2026

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2026 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/08/2025 Full Inadequate 21/01/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 3

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Summary of findings

Significant shortfalls in safeguarding practice and ineffective leadership and management at the home have had a detrimental impact on children’s safety and their overall progress and experiences while living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home does not provide children with a welcoming or homely environment. There are maintenance repairs required throughout the home due to damage, and the provider is slow to respond to these issues. Communal areas of the home, such as the lounge, are sparsely furnished and bare. Children are sleeping in the lounge, and staff efforts to address and improve this situation are not currently effective. This raises concerns about the suitability of the living arrangements and the quality of care being provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not support children to understand the risks from vaping. Children were observed to be vaping in the lounge while staff were present. Staff took no action to address it. This does not promote children’s health and wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff struggle to manage the behaviours of the 2 children when they are together. On one occasion, staff separated the children by taking one child to stay in a caravan without discussing it or obtaining consent from those with parental responsibility.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children are currently not accessing education. Although the manager is working in partnership with external professionals to identify appropriate long ‑ term solutions, there are no effective interim arrangements in place to support children’s educational engagement. Staff attempts to engage children in learning are not effective and do not result in sustained participation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite this, children describe having positive relationships with staff. Staff are developing their understanding of the impact of trauma on children’s behaviour and presentation, supported by the in ‑ house therapy team and external professionals. Staff make appropriate referrals for external assessments when required, ensuring that children’s wider needs are recognised and responded to.

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

Staff do not consistently recognise risks to children or take appropriate action to reduce them. During one significant incident, a child displayed unsafe behaviours while travelling in a moving car, and staff failed to take effective and immediate safeguarding action.

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

In addition, children have climbed onto the roof of the home on 3 separate occasions. Each time, staff did not act quickly enough to protect them. These repeated failures exposed children to a risk of significant harm and injury and raise serious concerns about Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 4 the quality of staff supervision, the robustness of risk assessment and the overall standard of safeguarding practice in the home.

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

Two significant incidents were not recorded, preventing any effective review of whether appropriate safeguarding action was taken. This lack of documentation undermines accountability and removes essential opportunities for learning and improvement. In addition, the manager did not notify relevant safeguarding professionals of these incidents. This failure reduced external oversight and scrutiny and compromises the systems designed to ensure that children are protected and kept safe.

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

Staff have not been provided with opportunities to reflect on incidents or learn from them. Additionally, following incidents, individual safety plans for children have not been updated to provide staff with the necessary guidance on the actions they should take to safeguard children effectively. Oversight from leaders and managers has failed to identify the shortfalls in staff practice. As a result, staff continue to manage the environment poorly and do not take sufficient action to prevent children from accessing unsafe spaces.

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

Medication storage is inconsistent. Although children’s medication is stored safely, staff medication is not. On one occasion, children accessed staff medication that had not been stored securely. While the manager identified lessons learned, practice has not improved. During the inspection, unsafe storage of staff medication was observed. Although this shortfall has not resulted in harm to children’s health, it continues to present a significant and avoidable risk to their safety and wellbeing.

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

Staff do not record consequences. This limits opportunities to gather and consider children’s views regarding the consequences used. It also prevents the manager from effectively reviewing the appropriateness, consistency and impact of these interventions in promoting positive behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Ineffective leadership and management in the home are significantly undermining the ability of the staff team to safeguard children effectively. Oversight by leaders and managers has not identified the significant shortfalls in practice, and effective action has not been taken to drive improvement. This lack of robust monitoring and response places children at risk and does not ensure that children receive safe and consistent care. Multi-agency working is inconsistent. Some professionals report effective communication, while others describe it as poor. This inconsistency results in a lack of coordinated and consistent partnership working, reducing the ability of professionals to act collectively in the best interests of children. There is an insufficient number of core staff working in the home, and most staff are inexperienced. Supervision does not take place regularly, limiting opportunities for staff

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

to develop the knowledge and skills required to safeguard children effectively. These shortfalls weaken the home’s capacity to provide safe, consistent care and to respond appropriately to children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 5

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

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

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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. 19 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 6 (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that action is taken to address hazards to the children’s health and safety in the environment.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff take effective immediate action to safeguard children during incidents.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there are clear safety plans in place detailing actions staff should take to safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

*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 has sufficient staff to provide care for 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;

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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)) 19 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 7 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there is clear, timely recording and oversight of all incidents.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that monitoring systems are effective in identifying and addressing shortfalls in staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff have the necessary skills and experience to safeguard children and that where learning is identified, this is shared with staff and embedded into their practice.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

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

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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 40 (4)(b)(e)) 19 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that information relating to the care, protection or safety of children is recorded, including details of any incidents and the actions taken by staff to safeguard children. 19 July 2026

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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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; 19 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 8 a description of the measure and its duration; and

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that a record is made of any consequences implemented to manage children’s behaviour, detailing the reasons for and length of any consequence used.

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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

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

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; and

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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. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that there are clear informal education plans in place to promote children’s educational needs in the absence of formal education taking place. 19 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 9

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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: 2774125 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northridge Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Richard House, 9 Winckley Square, Preston, Lancashire PR1 3HP

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Inspector

Leanne Carr, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 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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