Children's Home run by The Place Young People’s Company in Leicestershire

Inspection report children's home: 1241261 1 Registered provider: The Place Young People’s Company

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home that provides care for up to 2 children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post. The registered manager has had a period of planned absence away from the home since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

One child is living at the home and was spoken with as part of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1241261 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/08/2025 Full Good 21/10/2024 Full Good 27/02/2024 Full Good 04/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1241261 3

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Summary of findings

Since the last inspection, 1 child moved out of the home and a different child moved into and out of the home.

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Summary of findings

There is one residing child who was spoken to as part of the inspection. The child is cared for by staff who understand the importance of building strong and nurturing relationships. Routines and boundaries are being embedded which is supporting the child to progress and achieve. There have been several changes in staffing which has had a negative impact on the child; however this situation is now improving.

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Summary of findings

At the time of the inspection, a new interim manager was overseeing the home whilst the manager is away. There have been changes in leadership and management.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is cared for in a home that is full of their toys, games and pictures. The child’s bedroom is well-decorated and set up with a cosy armchair, so that staff can be comfortable when reading bedtime stories to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers speak with pride and affection about the child’s achievements and progress. Staff support the child’s progress in self-care by brushing their teeth together, taking the child swimming regularly and making bath time fun with families of rubber ducks and other bath toys.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to be active and engaged in informal educational activities whilst they do not have access to formal education. This includes play, planning meals and shopping lists, going shopping and cooking and eating meals together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is being supported to build on time spent with family members. A lack of communication with changes in management led to one video call being missed. Plans are now in place with the social worker around this to ensure consistent communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have not always been consistent previously in ensuring routines and boundaries are followed. This led to a period when the child was not in a good sleep or activity routine and food options were not healthy. This impacted negatively on the child’s progress. Managers and leaders had recognised this prior to the inspection and have made changes to address these areas for development.

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

Children’s care and safety plans are individualised and informed by therapeutic input by the organisation’s assessment and therapy services. Inspection report children's home: 1241261 4 Staff speak with confidence about the child’s needs and vulnerabilities and are aware when any changes are made to the child’s plans. Staff are clear around the routines and boundaries in place and that these are needed to keep everyone safe.

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

For one child who moved into and out of the home, managers advocated for the child in terms of their care-planning.

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

Staff respond to incidents to safeguard children. Staff follow missing from home processes and liaise effectively with safeguarding agencies. Any physical intervention is used to keep children or others safe, and children and staff are spoken to after all incidents to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

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

Any allegations are reported to the relevant safeguarding agencies, and appropriate actions are taken to safeguard children. For 1 child who made a complaint, it was not clear what the complaint was, what actions were taken or how the child was informed of the outcome.

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

Staff speak highly of the support from the interim manager and senior leaders. Staff are excited and ambitious about the child’s future.

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

Staff have a thorough induction when they start employment, they also benefit from one-to-one supervision, training and reflective team meetings.

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

An external professional commented on the communication with the interim manager and on the good progress the child has made since living at the home. This is whilst also acknowledging the impact on the child with lack of consistent boundaries and routines contributed to by previous changes in staffing and management arrangements.

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

Managers and senior leaders ensure safer recruitment and vetting processes are followed for staff.

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

Changes to staffing and management arrangements has meant that children have been cared for by staff who they are less familiar with. Leaders had taken action to improve the consistency of care for children prior to the inspection, they recognise that staff retention is needed to improve outcomes for children.

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

Changes in the organisations recording systems since the last inspection, means that children’s information is stored in multiple locations. This is an area for development because children’s records should be organised and accessible when needed. Inspection report children's home: 1241261 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, 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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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's workforce provides continuity of care to 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. 15 September 2026 Inspection report children's home: 1241261 6 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h)

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Requirement Due date

This relates in particular to leaders and managers ensuring that staff are consistent in implementing the routines and boundaries in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to children being cared for by staff who are familiar to them.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to changes in management arrangements in the home and ensuring information is consistently recorded for children and their records are accessible.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring any complaints made by a child are recorded accurately and children are informed of actions taken and the outcome.

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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 children's home: 1241261 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Place Young People’s Company

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Lymevale Court, Lyme Drive, Parklands, Stoke-on- Trent ST4 6NW

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Inspector

Caroline Hose, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 1241261 8 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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