Children's Home run by Brighter Pathways NW Ltd in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 1 Registered provider: Brighter Pathways NW Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately run and provides care for up to 2 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/08/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 3

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Summary of findings

There have been shortfalls identified in safeguarding practices and the leadership and management of the home. These have negatively impacted on the quality of care provided to the children living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in safeguarding and the leadership and management at the home have impacted on the children’s experiences and overall progress since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Not all moves into the home have been well planned. Consideration is not given to whether the staff have the skills to provide effective care to the children, specifically whether staff can drive and how this would impact on their ability to keep children safe when missing from the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise the importance of education. This has resulted in one child making progress and completing several qualifications. The manager has actively challenged the local authority due to another child not being allocated a local school place that can meet their needs. Staff have completed educational work with the child in the home. However, the impact of this has been minimal.

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improvement to be good

The children living in the home are healthy and well. The children are registered with all relevant health professionals, and staff ensure that they attend all appointments.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to build positive relationships with the children. Staff engage them in meaningful conversations to obtain their wishes and feelings. Feedback from external professionals is positive about the support staff provide to the children to develop and maintain their relationships. However, children say that they do not always feel listened to in respect of activities that they want to take part in.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice is not effective. There are risk assessments in place for all identified risks for both children; however, staff do not always follow plans to safeguard children.

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improvement to be good

Practice in relation to children going missing from home is inconsistent. Staff responses to children being missing from the home are not consistent. Staff do not always look for children to ensure that they are located promptly and safeguarded. In addition, records of incidents are not accurate and do not include all the details of how staff responded. Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 4 Plans are in place to support staff to manage children’s behaviour. These include clear strategies for staff to follow when incidents of challenging behaviour occur in the home. Staff know the children well and use effective de-escalation techniques to manage behaviours. As a result, there have been no incidents of children being physically held.

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improvement to be good

Staff have completed training in safeguarding and exploitation. They understand the children’s individual risks and engage children in focused key-work sessions where they have open and honest conversations regarding difficult topics.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff engage well with other agencies and seek to build effective working relationships with professionals. Managers regularly attend multi-agency meetings and advocate for children when decisions are made by external agencies that are not in their best interests. However, this does not always lead to improved outcomes or increased safety for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a registered manager in place who is committed to providing good-quality care for the children living in the home. The manager has high regard for the team and high aspirations for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The leadership and management of the home are not effective. The manager does not identify shortfalls in staff practice. As a result, the safeguarding needs of children are not always met, and children have been left at risk of harm when missing from home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive regular supervision. This allows staff the time to reflect on their practice, and a space to discuss the emotional impact of the role. Team meetings take place monthly and cover training and learning for the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has shown a lack of professional judgement. The manager allowed a family member to join in a planned activity with the children. This resulted in the children feeling that the manager was prioritising time with the family member rather than focusing on them. The manager showed limited understanding of this being inappropriate and instead attempted to justify their actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Additionally, the manager and team were part of an online chat group that included the personal phone numbers of the team, and information regarding one of the children was shared. This was discovered by a child living in the home, who shared the information with their social worker. The social worker addressed this with the manager, who accepted responsibility and took appropriate action. Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff take action to locate and safeguard children when they are missing from home. 22 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 children’s home that— 22 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 6 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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that there are systems in place to review and monitor the quality of care provided in the home. Ensure that all incidents are reviewed, that shortfalls in staff practice are identified and that action is taken to address these.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 22 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 7 that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(e)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff have the necessary skills and experience to meet the needs of children living in the home, taking into consideration the impact of children living significant distances from their home area. Children’s plans should be regularly reviewed, and action should be taken when children’s needs cannot be met in the home.

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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: 2811131 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Brighter Pathways NW Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 3, 3rd Floor, 21 Old Hall Street, Liverpool, Merseyside L3 9BS

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Inspector

Rose Maddocks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2811131 9 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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