Children's Home run by Beacon Care Group Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 1 Registered provider: Beacon Care Group 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

The home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There were 2 children living at the home at the time of this inspection. The inspector spoke with 1 child. 1 child was in hospital throughout the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and we are currently checking that this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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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 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: 2817904 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/05/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 3

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Summary of findings

Ineffective care planning has adversely affected children's progress and experiences. Some children have moved out in sudden and unplanned ways.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not always have the skills or experience to take effective action to keep children safe. Risk assessments do not contain all children's vulnerabilities.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not notify Ofsted of all serious incidents, including allegations made against staff.

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Summary of findings

Physical intervention records do not meet regulations.

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Summary of findings

There has been a new manager in post since October 2025. There are gaps in safer- recruitment processes for a member of staff. Concerns around staff practice are not always addressed during supervision sessions. There is varied feedback from staff.

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Summary of findings

One child is making progress despite four children moving out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The overall experiences and progress of children are compromised by shortfalls in safeguarding practice, ineffective care planning and the leadership and management of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Before children move into the home, leaders and managers do not thoroughly assess their individual risks and needs or consider the needs of the children already living there. They fail to consider the impact this will have on children, which has negatively affected children's day-to-day experiences. As a result, staff have not fully understood or been able to meet children's needs consistently. In addition, social workers have not been informed when new children have moved in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children's experiences in the home have been varied. One child has settled and made progress, while others have experienced more unsettled periods. This has resulted in four children moving out of their home in a sudden and unplanned way. This means that children have not had a sense of belonging and stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not effectively manage children's relationships when they live together. One local authority felt that they would have challenged the registered manager's decision about a child moving in if they had been made aware of their histories and vulnerabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff ensure that the home is welcoming, and children choose colours for the décor. The children's bedrooms are individualised. There are concerns about disputes with the Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 4 neighbours in the area. This has caused friction between the neighbours and the staff and does not promote a safe environment for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child is making progress with regard to education, health and independence. Staff support the child to spend time with their friends and previous foster carers, which supports their identity.

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

Risk management and behaviour support plans consider children's previous and current vulnerabilities. However, not all known risks have been included in the children's risk management plans. For example, staff did not follow agreed strategies regarding one child's vulnerabilities relating to child exploitation or being groomed by older males. Although staff appear to understand children's risks, this does not ensure that all staff know how to consistently respond should incidents occur.

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

Staff do not consistently help children to stay safe. There have been several occasions when police interventions have been needed to protect children and keep them safe this includes following an incident of missing for a child.

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

Leaders and managers do not notify Ofsted of all serious incidents, including allegations made against staff. There have also been serious incidents concerning children being at risk of suicide that have not been reported to the regulator. This reduces the regulator's ability to maintain effective oversight and limits opportunities for external scrutiny.

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

On one occasion safer recruitment checks were not fully completed by leaders and the manager when appointing a new member of staff. This weakens safeguarding arrangements.

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

On one occasion, leaders and managers did not follow safeguarding procedures when responding to concerns about staff practice. Although a referral to the local authority designated officer (LADO) was completed, leaders and managers investigated and concluded staff practice concerns without updating the LADO. This could potentially hinder the effectiveness of multi-agency responses and the reliability of any resulting investigation.

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

Physical intervention is only used when necessary to help children manage periods of distress. However, the registered person has not ensured that records show that the staff involved in these interventions have been spoken to or that the child has had an opportunity to explore their feelings following the incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, there has been a change in manager and responsible individual. The new manager has been in post since October 2025.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff complete the provider's identified mandatory training. However, they have not Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 5 undertaken learning that relates specifically to the needs of the children they care for. These gaps in specialist training limit staff's ability to respond effectively to known risks, particularly those associated with children's emotional health needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is an ongoing dispute with the neighbours, which started in recent months. These risks in the community are not reflected in the review of premises assessment, which has not been updated since August 2025. This is a missed opportunity for leaders and managers to evaluate the suitability of the location and any impact on children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager understands the strengths and some areas for development of the home. However, reports from the independent person do not always include direct interactions with children's family members. This is a missed opportunity for leaders and managers to identify and address other areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have access to regular supervision sessions and team meetings. However, the quality of these sessions is variable. On occasions, managers have failed to use supervision to address areas of concern in practice. This is a missed opportunity to improve the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has completed a 6-monthly quality of care review. The report does not consider feedback from local authorities, parents, children or staff working with the children. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to fully evaluate and improve the care that children experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is varied feedback from the staff with regards to support they receive and the daily routines. Some staff did not feel that children were safe and that two of the children should not have lived together. Most staff praise the support from leaders and managers. Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f)(c)) 21 June 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—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 7 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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii))

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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

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 located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all risks are included in children's plans and that relationships between children are assessed so that children do not harm each other.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that allegations or complaints made by children or staff are notified to LADO and the regulator. 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 8 They must also ensure that a review of the location is updated when significant incidents occur, such as the dispute with the neighbours.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff are spoken to within 48 hours of a measure. 21 June 2026

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Requirement Due date

Notification of a serious event If there is a referral of a person working in the home pursuant to section 35 (Regulated activity providers: duty to refer) of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006(1), the registered person must without delay notify— HMCI; the placing authority; and each other relevant person. The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 9

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. A notification made under this regulation— must include details of— the matter; the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter; must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (3)(a)(b)(c)(4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b) The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children's home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the independent person gathers feedback from people who are important to the children. 21 June 2026

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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 they undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. This should include gathering feedback from staff, children, professionals and children's family. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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 Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 10 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: 2817904 11

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Beacon Care Group Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Blackwell Business Centre, 1 Blackwell Lane, Darlington DL3 8QF

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Inspector

Karen Andrews, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2817904 12 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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