Horizons Plus Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 1 Horizons Plus Ltd Registered provider: Horizons Plus Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service registered on 14 December 2023 and is operated by a private provider in the North West region. The service can accommodate up to 11 individuals in 2 shared or group-living premises that are limited to accommodating looked-after children or care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, 2 looked-after children aged 16 or 17 were being accommodated.

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provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since the provider registered on 14 December 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 8 June 2026, and the inspector was on site on 10 and 11 June 2026.

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Outcome

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings. The next inspection will be within approximately 6 months.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers admit children outside of the registration conditions of the supported accommodation. Children are admitted with complex needs that the service cannot meet. This results in children’s placements ending prematurely.

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Summary of findings

Leaders’ and managers’ oversight of this service is ineffective. As a result, children do not always experience quality support that promotes their safety and wellbeing.

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Summary of findings

Children are not always safeguarded effectively. Child protection information is not consistently shared with partner agencies.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that plans for children are comprehensive and meaningful. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not support all children effectively. Not all children make progress or have a range of positive experiences. For example, one child went missing from home on 13 occasions in the first month that they lived at the home. They sustained physical injuries on at least 2 occasions in this period. They were assaulted by a person with a hammer in one incident. On one occasion, they slept in an abandoned home after taking their mattress there. The provider did not take appropriate action when it became clear that the placement could not meet the child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not consistently produce children’s support plans following their move into the service. One child has lived in the service for more than a month but does not have a written support plan. This increases the likelihood that staff may not respond effectively to children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff undertake some direct work with children to help them stay safe and make progress. Children say that they have been helped with cooking, shopping and budgeting, for example. However, the effectiveness of this work is limited because not all children have a support plan. Therefore, the direct work with children lacks structure. Furthermore, leaders and managers do not ensure that the support work undertaken with children is recorded in sufficient detail. Leaders and managers do not take sufficient steps to ensure that children are supported to access education, training or employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff from partner agencies, such as social workers, are not consistently positive about the way in which the provider communicates with them. One social worker said that they had not been informed when a child had sustained injuries. The injuries occurred when the child had been missing from home overnight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers implement surveillance and monitoring methods that prevent children from having sufficient privacy. Staff use CCTV cameras to monitor children when they are in communal parts of their homes. This includes lounge and kitchen areas. Leaders and managers do not always ensure that children live in a homely environment. For example, several door frames in the homes are damaged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children to register with dentists, doctors and other primary healthcare services. Staff collaborate with specialist services when children need additional help, for example with their mental health.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not always keep children safe. They do not always share important safeguarding information with the children’s social workers. For instance, they failed to notify a social worker when a child had fallen when attempting to climb into an upstairs window in one of their homes. The child who fell was not living at the home but was attempting to visit a child who was living there. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 3 Furthermore, partner agencies say that the information they receive is not always accurate and can understate the seriousness of incidents involving children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not take appropriate and prompt action when the service cannot keep a child safe from harm. They admitted a child into the service who was described in the placement request form as being ‘dependent on substances’. The child continued to use substances throughout the placement, including heroin, and remained at significant risk of harm. The registered service manager described the child as being on ‘risk to life’ status. The provider did not take adequate steps to ensure that the child was living in an environment that could meet his needs. Instead, they provided ‘waking nights’ for approximately 4 months.

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How well children are helped and protected

Another child went missing from home on 25 occasions during their placement. The provider moved the child from one of their homes to their other home. The provider was unable to keep the child safe in either home but did not take prompt and adequate steps to address this. When children return home, they are offered a return home interview by an independent service.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not ensure that all staff working with children have the skills and knowledge required to keep them safe. For example, not all staff working directly with children have completed the provider’s mandatory induction training in relation to health and safety, risk management and safeguarding children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of health and safety risks in children’s homes. In one home, the kitchen fire door was wedged open. This increases the risk of harm to children and staff.

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How well children are helped and protected

Both children said that they felt safe in their homes and had good relationships with members of staff. They gave examples of practical support that they had received.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers accept children who, at the point of referral, are not ready to live in supported accommodation. For example, they accepted a child described in the placement referral form as presenting a ‘complex, high-risk safeguarding challenge’. This means that placements are not in accordance with the provider’s statement of purpose. Leaders and managers do not always take sufficient steps to ensure that they are in receipt of all relevant information at the point of referral. They do not take adequate steps to ascertain the reasons why children’s previous placements in supported accommodation or children’s homes have ended prematurely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not take effective steps to ensure that children are supported when it becomes apparent that the service is unable to meet their needs. They sometimes implement staffing models that are inconsistent with supported accommodation provisions. These include high staffing levels to supervise children regularly due to their complex needs, including throughout the night. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 4 Leaders and managers use a range of methods to monitor the quality of the service. However, quality-assurance processes are not effective. For example, they do not identify when children’s needs cannot be met or when children do not have a support plan in place. Furthermore, leaders and managers do not complete an effective quality of support review at least once every 6 months. This is a missed opportunity to reflect on areas of identified strengths and weaknesses and the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leadership and management of the service are consistent. The service has had the same service manager from the date of registration. However, leaders and managers do not visit the homes with sufficient regularity. This lack of visibility is of particular concern because the provider identified the need for ‘improved senior management visibility’ after an allegation of staff misconduct. Leaders and managers do notify the local authority designated officer when they become aware of allegations relating to staff but do not always implement their own ‘lessons learned’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not consistently inform Ofsted when serious events occur. For instance, they failed to inform Ofsted when a decision was taken to end a child’s placement after they had pushed a member of staff. On another occasion, the provider took 8 days to notify Ofsted when a child had been arrested. This limits the regulator’s ability to maintain oversight and ensure that responses to serious incidents protect and support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not always review serious incidents fully and identify points of learning. For example, the provider gave 28 days’ notice to end a child’s placement after they allegedly assaulted a member of staff in the home. However, the child then committed 2 further assaults on staff in the home during this period. The provider has not reviewed these incidents in sufficient depth to identify if appropriate steps were taken to keep children and staff safe during this period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have developed a comprehensive training programme for staff to help them understand children’s needs. However, leaders and managers do not take sufficient steps to ensure that all staff complete the training that is required of them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff feel supported in their roles and are positive about the supervision that they receive. They also attend regular team meetings, and this helps them to focus on the needs and progress of children. However, some staff feel tired in their role due to children being missing from home regularly at night. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 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 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 protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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

prepare and implement child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or any other harm, and act to reduce such risk;

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Requirement Due date

work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies, and share information where relevant to keep children safe. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)(f)(ii)(iv)) 26 July 2026

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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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 26 July 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 6 lead and manage the supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(f)(g))

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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

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

comply with all relevant statutory provisions dealing with health and safety or fire safety matters;

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Requirement Due date

only use devices for monitoring or surveillance in communal areas and then only if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to each child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(viii)(x)(c)(iv)) 26 July 2026

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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 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; 26 July 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

engage and work with the accommodating authority if the registered person has concerns or if the child’s support needs to be changed, including where that change may mean that the child requires more intensive support;

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Requirement Due date

ensure a plan for support is in place to support the child to develop the resilience and skills required to transition out of supported accommodation when the child is ready to live more independently;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that children are supported to access education, training or employment. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(b)(c)(f)(k)(m))

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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)) 26 July 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 8 The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review ("a quality of support review") at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of support review, the registered person must produce a written report setting out the actions the registered person intends to take as a result of that quality of support review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the review report to the CIECSS within 28 days beginning with the day on which the report is completed, and make a copy of it available on request to each child’s accommodating authority. (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2) (3)) 26 July 2026

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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 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: Horizons Plus Ltd 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Sarah Leahair

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: s.leahair@horizonsplus.co.uk

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Inspector

Steve James, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Horizons Plus Ltd 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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