Children's Home run by Lonsdale Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 1 Registered provider: Lonsdale Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

A private provider operates this home. The home is registered to care for up to 4 children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The home registered with Ofsted in May 2018.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered in December 2020.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 4 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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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 and young people 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: 13 February 2025

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2025 Full Outstanding 13/03/2024 Full Outstanding 08/03/2023 Full Outstanding 24/02/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have variable experiences living in this home. Some children have made progress. However, children's safety is compromised by the serious shortalls in safeguarding practices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are cared for by a stable staff team. However, staff do not understand all children's needs. This has led to gaps in staff providing safe and consistent care for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The registered manager plans well for children moving into the home. This includes meeting with children and their social workers to understand children's needs before they move in. Two children spoken to were positive about their experiences living in the home. One child was not positive and told inspectors that she has asked if she can leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home environment is generally well maintained and welcoming. However, one child's bedroom smells strongly of urine. The staff and registered manager have not taken sufficient action to address this and improve the child's environment. Action was only taken after inspectors raised this at the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the areas of concern, staff support children's individual education needs. Staff encourage children to attend education. Staff ensure that children enjoy various activities. These include swimming, trampolining lessons and trips to the cinema. Staff capture children's experiences in photographs. This will help children to remember their time living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to develop independence skills. This helps to support children when they leave the home.

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

Staff, including the registered manager and responsible individual, do not always understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding. They have not taken timely and appropriate action when there are serious concerns about children's safety and welfare.

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

Since the last inspection, children have made several allegations. The registered manager and the responsible individual have not taken sufficient action to keep children and staff safe. They have not reported concerns to all relevant safeguarding professionals, including Ofsted, in a timely manner. This does not enable the regulator, local authority social workers and designated officers to ensure that the correct safeguarding processes are followed to keep children and staff safe. Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 4 Staff, including the registered manager and responsible individual, do not always demonstrate professional curiosity when children share concerns with them.

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

Children's risk assessments do not include up-to-date information in respect of children's risks and vulnerabilities. This is despite the registered manager, responsible individual and staff knowing specific risks in relation to one child. This does not support staff safeguarding practices.

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

Staff spoken to do not demonstrate an understanding of how to manage children's individual vulnerabilities. Staff do not demonstrate that they know what to do when children make allegations. Staff spoken to shared contradictory information in respect of safeguarding incidents.

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

Risk assessments do not include risk management strategies for staff to follow in practice to reduce the risk of harm to children and staff. As a result, effective action is not always taken to protect and support children at risk of harm.

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

Records in respect of safeguarding incidents include inaccurate and contradictory information.

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

Safer recruitment processes are followed. This helps to ensure that only suitable adults work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is currently absent from work. The deputy manager was overseeing the home. However, she is also now absent from work. Further to this inspection, the director implemented an urgent plan for the day-to-day management arrangements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are significant shortfalls in the registered manager's understanding of safeguarding. The registered manager does not always work with safeguarding professionals, placing authorities and Ofsted in an open and transparent manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager does not sufficiently review and evaluate the quality of care that staff provide for children. The registered manager does not review incidents to help identity any learning to improve staff caring and safeguarding practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager and responsible individual do not notify Ofsted of all serious incidents in line with regulation. This impacts on the regulator monitoring the home effectively to help ensure that children remain safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children's records and plans do not identify children's needs. The registered manager does not consistently update children's plans to reflect children's time living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff spoken to say that they are supported by the registered manager. Staff have regular supervision. Supervision records demonstrate that staff talk about children. Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 5 Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 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

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

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; and

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff understand their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding practices.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that all staff have the skills to demonstrate professional curiosity. 3 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 7 Ensure that all children's bedrooms are maintained to a good standard and any repairs and/or maintenance are addressed without delay.

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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 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; and

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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)(d)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the registered manager and responsible individual have effective oversight of the home. 3 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider is an organisation, the organisation must ensure that the responsible individual undertakes such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the responsible individual has the skills needed for supervising the management of the home. (Regulation 29 (2))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically in respect of safeguarding roles and responsibilities. 3 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that— 27 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 8 the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child's health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child's health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child's wellbeing. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that all children's health needs are addressed.

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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: 1274089 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 20 Brookhouse Road, Caton, Lancaster LA2 9QT

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Inspectors

Karen Andrews, Social Care Inspector Catherine Fargin, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children's home: 1274089 10 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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