Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 1 SC034313 Registered provider: Hull City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to 6 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 5 children were living at the home. Four children were spoken with during this inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager was on annual leave. This inspection was led by a senior member of staff with the support of the operations manager and responsible individual.

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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 are not protected, their welfare is not promoted, the care and experiences of children 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: SC034313 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/07/2025 Full Good 08/04/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/06/2023 Full Good 22/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 3

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Summary of findings

There are significant failings in safeguarding practices, as well as in the leadership and management of this home, which have negatively affected children's overall experiences and progress. There are serious concerns relating to bullying, prolonged unhealthy routines for children and children being subjected to verbal and physical assaults by their peers. These failings demonstrated that leaders have not taken effective action to protect children from harm or ensure that they receive safe and consistent care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are not making progress due to ineffective care planning and a lack of management oversight. Actions taken by staff to support children in establishing healthy routines are ineffective. Three children have not attended education for a significant period. Children sleep through the day and remain awake during the night. Prolonged unhealthy sleep patterns have had a detrimental effect on their education, emotional wellbeing and overall development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Two children were moved into the home at a time when staff were struggling to meet the needs of those children already in the home. As a result, children's unsettled behaviour escalated significantly. Children have been subject to bullying, verbal and physical assaults by their peers and some incidents of racial abuse. These experiences have left children feeling frightened and unsafe in their home, significantly affecting their wellbeing and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Strategies to prevent children vaping in the home fail to deter children from doing so. Children continue to vape despite staff intervention. Furthermore, children are not educated about the health risks. Staff's approach does not discourage this behaviour or promote healthier choices. As a result, children are exposed to ongoing health risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children say that they like the staff and have positive relationships with them. The staff speak about the children with respect and genuine care. Staff are proud of children's achievements and help them to recognise when things have gone well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff understand the importance of children spending meaningful time with their families and other people who are important to them. They know children's family networks well and recognise that maintaining these relationships is central to children's identity, emotional wellbeing and sense of belonging.

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

Staff do not take effective action to prevent children from physically harming one another or to prevent bullying. Children experience verbal abuse, including racial abuse, Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 4 from their peers. One child said, 'The staff cannot stop it from happening,' when referring to being subject to ongoing name-calling. Staff do not consistently prevent or effectively manage incidents between the children. This leaves children experiencing conflict and feeling unsafe when physical and verbal incidents occur. Furthermore, older children have taken younger children out of the home during the night, resulting in unsafe situations. This further heightens concerns about their safety and supervision.

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

Staff have not been equipped with the skills and guidance to implement effective strategies that promote children's safety. Areas of the home are kept routinely locked because staff feel disempowered and uncertain about how to manage some behaviours that children present and risks relating to children going missing from home. As a result, children do not have free access to all areas of their home. While these measures have been implemented to reduce risk, they do not address the underlying concerns.

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

Staff and managers are not doing all they can to manage fire safety. This includes educating children about the significant dangers relating to fire. This shortfall contributes to concerns around how children are helped and protected.

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

Incident reporting lacks sufficient oversight, and important details are often missed or not fully explored. There is limited analysis of incidents and a failure to identify underlying causes or patterns. This means learning from incidents is not consistently taking place, and issues continue to reoccur without effective preventative action being implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are significant failings when deciding to admit children to the home. Manager decisions about not admitting children to the home have been overridden by senior leaders. This resulted in children being admitted at a time when staff could not safely or effectively meet their needs. This has contributed to children's poor experiences. This breakdown in the decision-making process does not prioritise children's safety and welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

During the evening, when children are awake and at increased risk, staffing levels are insufficient to adequately support all children. Some children are left in their bedrooms without appropriate supervision or reassurance at times when additional care and oversight is needed. This leaves children feeling frightened and unsupported in their home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are significant shortfalls in practice-related supervision, with staff not receiving regular supervision sessions in line with organisational expectations. This is of particular concern given that staff report feeling exhausted and burned out. The current arrangements do not provide sufficient value or support to staff. Staff are not consistently given the opportunity to reflect, decompress or receive appropriate guidance to support their practice and the care for children. Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 5 There are occasions when the local authority designated officer has not been informed of incidents, and safeguarding procedures have not consistently been followed when there have been concerns about staff. Investigations into the concerns are not always completed. This undermines safeguarding practice and leaves concerns unaddressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all serious safeguarding incidents are reported to Ofsted as required. The failure to consistently notify the regulator of such significant incidents prevents oversight of safeguarding practice in the home. This means that potential risks and patterns are not being fully scrutinised or addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff speak positively about the manager, and they feel supported by her. They recognise the challenges in the home and acknowledge that, due to the level of risk becoming increasingly difficult to manage, shortfalls in practice have emerged. Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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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. 2 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 7 (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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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

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

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)(d)(f)(h)) 2 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans; 13 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 8 support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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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

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. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to understand the dangers of vaping on their health, and clear boundaries must be in place to reduce the risk of vaping in the home. 13 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

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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— 13 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 9 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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child's relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 13 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 13 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 10

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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: SC034313 11

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspectors

Jo Birtwhistle, Social Care Inspector (lead) Shaun Martin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC034313 12 regulates 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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