Hope For 16 Plus

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 1 Hope For 16 Plus Registered provider: Hope For 16 Plus Limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework.

p.1

provider

This supported accommodation service is operated by a private provider. It provides accommodation in group-living premises that are limited to looked-after children and care leavers.

p.1

provider

The service can accommodate up to 25 children. Children receive daily support, including access to staff members 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and out of hours.

p.1

provider

At the time of the inspection, 8 children aged 16 and 17 were being accommodated.

p.1

provider

The nominated individual was registered with Ofsted in March 2024. The original registered service manager left in November 2025. An application was submitted in June 2026 for a new registered service manager.

p.1

Inspection dates:

The inspection was announced on 6 July 2026 and started on 8 July 2026. The inspector was on site on 8 and 9 July 2026

p.1

Outcome

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

p.1

Summary of findings

Children’s progress and experiences vary. Staff engage most children well and they benefit from the support. The staff are not able to support some children despite their best efforts.

p.1

Summary of findings

The relationships between children and staff are positive and meaningful. Children, staff and professionals speak highly of the positive impact of the service. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 2 Children are engaged in education and progressing positively. Children’s emotional and mental health is understood by staff, who use a trauma-informed approach.

p.1

Summary of findings

The records and oversight of accommodation require further work. This has led to inconsistent and poor property maintenance. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive support from an enthusiastic staff team, who know them well. Children have positive relationships that they describe as particularly helpful and supportive. Children trust staff, tell them about any concerns or worries and know how to make a complaint. The children comfortably approached staff and managers with questions to which staff responded warmly.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are encouraged to spend time with people who are important to them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Each child has a support plan, which reflects their individual needs. Staff assess children’s independent living skills, which are used to identify and monitor their progress. Children learn to manage finances, household tasks and use public transport.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff help children to attend college and to engage in education with tutors and online learning. Children have aspirations to complete their education and progress into careers. Staff encourage children to identify personal goals and to work towards these, such as learning to drive or to access specific training. This supports children’s ongoing motivation to achieve. Some children have chosen not to attend college, so staff have supported them to apply for apprenticeships and/or employment. The staff help children to identify areas of interest that motivate them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff know the children well, spending regular time with each individually to focus on their individual developmental goals. Some records reflect the children’s wishes and feelings, however, this is an area which could be developed further.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are supported to use their time positively. Children access the local library weekly to access resources. This helps their English language. Football training and games in the community supports children’s wellbeing and social relationships. Weekly social activities include watching films, cooking and game’s nights.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Although staff are aware of children’s faith and culture there is little recorded in their support plans. Specialist organisations try and locate and re-establish contact with family members and faith communities. This supports individual identities and cultural backgrounds. Children who are separated from their families and country of origin feel understood by the staff team. Staff use different forms of communication with children who speak English as an additional language.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children

Each child is registered with a local doctor, dentist and other primary healthcare services. Staff liaise with specialist services to advocate for the children’s needs, such as children and adolescent mental health services. Joint working with specialist providers supports the psychological wellbeing of children. Staff support children to attend appointments and to understand what is discussed. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 4

p.3

How well children are helped and protected

Children feel safe and supported, which enables them to develop the knowledge and skills they need for independent living.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

Staff understand safeguarding risks and can outline the risk assessments that mitigate against these. These have been developed as the staff get to know children in greater depth.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

Children face several risks and vulnerabilities that staff are responsive to. The children rarely go missing from the home. They treat one another with respect and show tolerance of one another’s differences. Overall, the children benefit from a stable home.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

The staff have restricted some items. These include children not having a key to the front door, knives and cleaning materials being locked away. External signage identifies the premises as supported accommodation, therefore, reducing children’s privacy and dignity.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

Members of staff demonstrate that they understood the risks children face. They recognise the particular risks for children, who have come as asylum seekers. Staff use key-work sessions with individual children to help them understand risks in the community and the local environment, such as water safety.

p.4

How well children are helped and protected

Concerns regarding child criminal exploitation are recorded as well as county lines involvement. The staff have good awareness and work with other agencies to help plan strategies to keep children safe. Multi-agency strategy meetings reflect the positive sharing of information and decision-making that helps everyone to safeguard children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The nominated individual, who is also the director, and the proposed registered service manager are aware that improvements are required. They have an open and active response to feedback from the local authority and Ofsted by taking actions to implement change.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are present and available to children and staff on a daily basis as well as being part of the on-call system.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Children are not always compatible to live with other children. On one occasion, it was decided a child should move to another property where they would live alone, which resolved relational difficulties. This is because the combination of children was not fully considered. There has been one occasion when not enough information was known about a child before they came to the service. This resulted in difficulties engaging the child positively and influenced the other children. Leaders and managers have developed a new protocol to consider new children to ensure sufficient information is gathered. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 5 Staff have regular supervision, when they can discuss the needs of children and their own personal development. Supervision records identify actions, however, there is no record of whether these have been completed. Staff described their

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

increased knowledge and skills through the supervision and training provided. The nominated individual has prioritised her supervision sessions with an independent consultant. However, the proposed registered service manager has not always accessed supervision.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The property requires some improvement to provide a well maintained and cared for home. Dining room chairs were damaged and there is torn flooring. All of the homes have poorly kept gardens. These do not provide children with an appealing outdoor space. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular that staff work collaboratively with children to help them understand how to keep safe, by offering guidance and support on how to minimise any potential risk of harm.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring there are no restrictive practices in place that limit the child’s learning about managing risks. 1 September 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

p.6

Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (4), the registered person may only—

p.6

Requirement Due date

employ an individual for the purposes of the provision of supported accommodation, or

p.6

Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work for the supported accommodation undertaking in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work for the supported accommodation undertaking, if the registered person is satisfied that the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

p.6

Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 1. (Regulation 17 (1) (2)(a)(b)) 3(d)) 1 September 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 7 This relates specifically to ensuring that full employment histories and any gaps are considered when recruiting staff and agency staff.

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that they receive supervisio their practice from a suitably skilled and experienced professional, which allows the to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young people accommodated in th setting. In particular, the registered service manager’s supervision should take plac regularly and the supervision notes should provide specific updates about the child and the support provided to the management and staff during significant incidents (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’ page 51)  The registered person should ensure that systems are in place to achieve better quality assurance of records and better monitoring of the information at a service level. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 15)  The registered person should ensure environments that meet the needs of young

p.7

Recommendations

people will always be homely and welcoming environments. Supported accommodation settings must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, fire, food storage and hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, settings should seek as much as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impressi (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’ page 27)

p.7

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: Hope For 16 Plus 8

p.7

Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Hope For 16 Plus Limited

p.8

Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 12 Chester Close, Chafford Hundred, Grays RM16 6ET

p.8

Supported accommodation provider details

Proposed Registered service manager: Peter Bashorun

p.8

Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: regina@hopefor16plus.org.uk

p.8

Inspector

Clare Hannah, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Hope For 16 Plus 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9