Children's Home run by Appletree Treatment Centre Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 1 SC033268 Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider. The home provides care for up to 12 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties or have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in October 2025. A new manager was appointed but left their role before being registered.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 7 children were living in the home. The inspectors spoke with all the children.

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

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2025 Full Good 16/12/2024 Full Good 27/08/2024 Full Inadequate 04/09/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 3

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Summary of findings

There are significant concerns about children’s wellbeing and safety due to senior leaders not demonstrating sufficient understanding of safeguarding and failing to provide effective oversight of children’s care. Leaders do not follow safeguarding procedures or apply effective scrutiny, increasing risks to children. Relationships with partner agencies have deteriorated due to poor communication and concerns about the conduct of leaders. Leaders do not identify or address weaknesses in staff practice, which limits learning and has allowed concerns to continue.

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Summary of findings

Concerns raised by children about staff conduct are not always listened to or properly investigated. This leaves children feeling unsupported and reduces their confidence in speaking up about safeguarding issues.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not have a good understanding of risks to children and there are poor risk assessments and inconsistent behaviour plans in place. Staff do not always respond appropriately to children’s emotional and physical health needs, with delays in support affecting children’s safety. Poor care planning for children leaving the home has negatively impacted on children’s stability and experiences. Positively, children have access to enjoyable activities, achievements are recognised and staff support education and community engagement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders do not respond flexibly or consider children’s needs in relation to when children move on from the home. In one case, a child’s return to the care of their family did not proceed as planned. Rather than enabling the child to remain in the home while alternative arrangements were sourced, leaders pressured the local authority to move the child. This led to the child moving into an unregistered placement. One professional said they were ‘appalled’ by the ending for this child. Professionals also raise concerns about how children are supported to see family members. These shortfalls have negatively affected children’s stability, relationships and overall experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not consistently recognise or respond to the physical and emotional wellbeing needs of children. This results in children not getting appropriate support at the right time. On one occasion, staff did not call for appropriate medical support when a child was distressed and harmed themselves. As a result, the safety and wellbeing of children are affected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children benefit from personalised bedrooms that reflect their individuality. However, bathrooms do not provide the same child-centred environment. Staff store shampoos and body washes in locked areas and provide paper towel dispensers instead of individual towels. This gives an institutionalised feel to some aspects of the home Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 4 environment. In addition, stairwell carpets are dirty with exposed metal grippers on each step.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children take part in regular themed nights and activities. They regularly go horse riding and swimming, which encourages engagement and builds confidence. Staff participate in activities with children and this helps develop relationships. Staff also celebrate children’s achievements, helping children to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff work closely with teachers at the children’s school to support children’s learning and educational progress. This consistent support and collaboration helps children engage and make progress in line with their individual targets and expected outcomes.

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

Senior leaders in the organisation have not created a culture that consistently recognises and responds to safeguarding matters. For example, they have not followed their own risk management processes. When individuals have been subject to external scrutiny, leaders continued to allow their involvement in the oversight of safeguarding and decision-making, despite their own risk assessment saying this would not happen. This included involvement in children’s care planning, safer recruitment and multi-agency discussions.

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

Senior leaders do not demonstrate sufficient professional curiosity. For example, when concerning information is shared about staff’s previous employment history, additional safety measures are not considered. This fails to fully consider how suitable staff are to be working with children.

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

Staff do not demonstrate a clear understanding of children’s individual needs, and use inconsistent strategies to support children at times of distress. This can lead to children’s behaviour escalating, sometimes requiring the use of physical intervention. Some restraint incidents last longer than necessary and could potentially be avoided through earlier and more consistent responses.

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

Risk assessments and behaviour support plans do not consistently reflect children’s behaviours, triggers or clear strategies needed to support them safely. Some plans contain duplicated or conflicting guidance, which reduces staff’s ability to respond consistently and effectively to children.

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

There is a risk-averse and institutionalised culture in the home. Staff do not always appropriately balance safeguarding with children’s individual needs and development. There are some blanket restrictions in place for children around how they are supported, which do not consider children’s individual needs. In addition, staff do not provide adequate additional support for children who have experienced trauma through direct work or referrals to specialist services. This limits opportunities for children to overcome past trauma. Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 5 Staff do not always act when children raise concerns about staff conduct. Children’s views have not always been thoroughly explored to ensure that their concerns are fully investigated. This reduces opportunities to fully understand children’s experiences and respond to safeguarding concerns. As a result, children may lose confidence in raising

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has not had a registered manager since October 2025. A manager had been appointed but they withdrew their application to register and no longer work in the home. The current deputy manager is acting as an interim manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of staff practice or the day-to-day care provided to children. Although managers review incidents and records, they do not identify the weaknesses in staff responses or address underlying practice concerns. As a result, opportunities to improve staff practice are missed, which increases the risk of repeated shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some leaders do not receive supervision by someone that understands the service. As a result, they do not develop their understanding of the quality of care provided to children. In addition, they do not receive effective professional challenge about decision- making within the organisation that affects children’s safety and wellbeing. This reduces accountability and limits effective decision-making across the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some relationships with partner agencies have become strained. Professionals describe communication at times as inconsistent and poor. One social worker said they do not get regular updates. Professionals also raised concerns about a member of the leadership team, with one professional saying that they were asked to falsify documents by amending and removing information. Another professional expressed reservations about future placements at the home. These concerns reduce trust between agencies and limit effective joint working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and staff do not always use language that reflects a caring and respectful approach. For example, one child’s risk assessment described the child’s emotional distress in a way that placed blame on the child. This does not demonstrate a child- centred and nurturing approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Interim managers have stepped into leadership roles at short notice. Staff report feeling more supported and experiencing improved continuity during this time. They say communication is better and the new manager and deputy are more child centred. The interim manager has introduced changes that have had an early positive impact on staff and children. However, these changes have only been in place for a short period, and it is too early to determine whether they will lead to sustained improvement. Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 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 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

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

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h)) 2 August 2026

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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. 2 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 7 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

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;

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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)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation (10) (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)) 30 August 2026

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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 30 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 8 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—

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that, subject to regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation (14)(1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect; 30 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 9 help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation (6)(1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC033268 10

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meathop Park, Meathop, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6RF

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Inspectors

Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector (lead) Amey Henry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC033268 11 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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