Cambridge Care Company

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 1 Cambridge Care Company Registered provider: Cambridge Care Company Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

A private provider operates this service.

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provider

The service offers accommodation for up to 202 children in 49 premises, comprising 7 single-occupancy properties, 7 properties limited to accommodating looked-after children and 35 properties that are not ring-fenced. These properties are located over 5 locations in Newmarket, Peterborough, Cambridge, Liverpool and Coventry.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 55 children aged 16 or 17 who were looked-after children or care leavers.

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provider

The registered service manager, who is also the nominated individual, registered at the same time as the organisation, in December 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 8 June 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 10 to 12 June 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

Children mostly reported being happy in their accommodation and felt that the support from staff was helpful and kept them safe.

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Summary of findings

The provider had expanded the service into another area. Local commissioning for the area raised concerns about how leaders and managers managed safeguarding concerns. Leaders have now decided to withdraw from the area, but they are working to reduce the disruption for children and staff. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 2 Senior managers have left the service, which has contributed to gaps in management oversight. New staff have been recruited to help with auditing and regulation compliance.

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Summary of findings

Staff recruitment and training are prioritised; however, one manager’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check had expired. Management rectified this immediately.

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Summary of findings

Some properties are homely, but others need renovation and modernising.

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Summary of findings

The provider has recently updated its recording system. This system is not yet embedded into practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from warm and consistent relationships with staff. Staff interact positively and respectfully with children, building positive relationships. As a result, children appear comfortable in their surroundings and seek support when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children reported feeling safe and supported in their accommodation. Managers consider the needs and risks of children effectively. This promotes stability in homes and reduces conflict between children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders recognise the diverse needs of children. However, staff practice across the service is not consistent in meeting children’s language needs. Although translated material is available, some children do not recall receiving key documents in their native language, and one child reported that translations were not of sufficiently good quality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children describe staff as approachable and helpful. They shared experiences of being supported with their health, education and asylum-related issues. This holistic support helps children make progress in key areas of their independence. However, one child expressed anxiety about the end of their placement and where they will be moving to, meaning that the child did not feel well prepared for the transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children feel that their accommodation is well located, with easy access to local amenities and places of worship, supporting their independence and community integration.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The quality of children’s homes varies. For some children, their homes are well maintained, clean and provide a homely environment. Most children report that maintenance issues are addressed promptly, but some concerns were raised about the timeliness of repairs. However, the quality of accommodation varies across the regions, with some properties requiring refurbishment and modernisation. This prevents children from enjoying a warm and welcoming home environment. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 3 Staff make sure that most children are engaged in education. Children are enabled by staff to access an appropriate educational provision that is close to where they live. Managers offer further educational activities through an alternative education offer, enabling children to access additional learning and career development alongside their full-time studies. However, this service is not offered to all children

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive regular key-work sessions that are tailored to their individual needs. Records sampled demonstrate that these sessions take place regularly and support children towards their goals and targets. This helps children to make progress and develop their independence skills.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff and managers are proactive in keeping children safe and escalating concerns. Managers have made changes in their approach to handling complaints. Since the new system was implemented, children’s complaints have been responded to consistently and promptly. There is clear management oversight and follow-up of any complaints raised.

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How well children are helped and protected

Safer recruitment practices are largely effective. Pre-employment checks are routinely undertaken. However, one senior manager’s DBS certificate was not registered with the update service. This was not flagged as this person’s recruitment records were not accessible to other managers. This led to an oversight from leaders to ensure that safer recruitment checks were kept up to date.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff receive an effective induction into the organisation. Their progress is monitored, and managers maintain oversight of mandatory training renewals. Some staff have used their training in creative ways to produce posters and leaflets to share key messages with children. Other staff have used video blogs to help children better understand their needs and support plans.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff manage incidents involving children well. They are aware of how to respond to risks for children. There is effective management oversight of incidents when they occur. Managers make sure that they notify Ofsted of serious incidents involving children, and this allows oversight of how effectively children are being kept safe.

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How well children are helped and protected

The provider uses CCTV in children’s homes across the service, but its use varies across regions and is not reflected accurately in the children’s guides. This limits children’s understanding of how monitoring is used in their accommodation and the level of privacy they have.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children’s support plans vary in detail and clarity. There appear to be areas of good practice in some regions, but this approach is not used across the whole service. For some children, their support plans do not reflect their individual needs. In other plans, actions identified do not fully address identified risks, which reduces the effectiveness of safeguarding measures. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are reflective about the service. They have recognised some limitations in their approach and responded accordingly. Leaders had decided to expand to another area. However, the registered manager did not have effective oversight of this part of the service and had delegated responsibility to another manager who has now left the service. Following concerns raised by commissioning teams about how the area was responding to the needs of children, and the provider having concerns about the commissioning arrangements, the nominated individual has chosen to close this part of the service. Managers have taken learning from this experience and have put in place a robust admission process to help increase placement stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders have responded promptly to changes in staffing. Following the departure of senior staff members, immediate action was taken to review the records for children identified as having the highest levels of need. This highlighted gaps in management oversight, particularly in relation to auditing support plans that are inconsistent across the service. To address these concerns, a quality assurance manager has been recruited. Their role focuses on improving compliance and driving forward quality assurance across the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders are seeking to enhance staff development through external training and consultancy partnerships. This helps the service develop a stronger understanding of regulations. Managers have identified key areas of development for the future, including a greater focus on evidencing children’s outcomes through improvements to support plans and clearer promotion of independence skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff receive regular and effective supervision across the service. Managers are improving staff awareness of trauma and emotional regulation through enhanced training. Regular management meetings take place across the service, and learning from these meetings is shared with staff through regional forums.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff complete weekly house checks, but these are not effective in identifying renovation needs. Managers have not taken effective action to review the quality of accommodation and have not taken action to address concerns such as worn furnishings and kitchen and bathroom renovations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders have implemented a new recording system. However, this is not sufficiently embedded into practice. Managers and staff do not yet know how to record information about children consistently. Staff and managers are still developing confidence in how documents are recorded, collated and reviewed, which impacts on oversight and consistency. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 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 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

provide stability and consistency of accommodation for children;

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Requirement Due date

are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child individually and all children collectively;

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Requirement Due date

are suitable for the purposes of supported accommodation and are accessible, safe, secure and well-maintained;

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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

are designed, furnished and maintained to remove avoidable hazards which could pose a health and safety risk to children;

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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

children are informed in advance of the intention to carry out monitoring or surveillance, and

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Requirement Due date

provide children with a written agreement, in an accessible format, which outlines their rights, the terms and conditions of the supported accommodation and how they can raise concerns about the provision of supported accommodation. 24 July 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 6 (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(i)(v)(vi)(viii)(ix)(c)(iii)(f))

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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 children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

before a child arrives or upon a child’s arrival, ensure that the child is given a written guide, in an accessible format, containing information about—

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Requirement Due date

the support and accommodation provided by the supported accommodation undertaking;

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available, how the child may access that support or those services, and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy;

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Requirement Due date

how to make a complaint or representation in relation to the support and accommodation provided and how any such complaint or representation will be dealt with;

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Requirement Due date

what services and facilities are available that take account of children’s needs arising as a result of cultural differences or disability;

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Requirement Due date

and which the registered person must keep under review, seeking children’s comments before revising the written guide. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(j)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 24 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider and the registered service manager must, having regard to— 24 July 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 7 the number of premises used as supported accommodation by,

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Requirement Due date

the number of children accommodated in the premises used as supported accommodation by,

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Requirement Due date

the geographical scope of the premises used as supported accommodation by,

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Requirement Due date

the category or categories of supported accommodation provided by the supported accommodation undertaking concerned, carry on or manage that undertaking with sufficient care, competence and skill. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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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: Cambridge Care Company 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Cambridge Care Company Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Pheasant House, Mill Road, Great Barton, Bury St Edmunds IP31 2QQ

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Penny Stapleton

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: penny@cambridgecarecompany.com

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Inspectors

Chris Jay, Social Care Inspector Shelley Chowdhury, Social Care Inspector Amie Pearson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Cambridge Care Company 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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