Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to care for up to 2 children with social and emotional difficulties. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Due to serious and widespread concerns about the provider organisation, a notice restricting accommodation at this home was issued on 19 June 2026, at the time of this visit the notice remained in place. Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2025 Full Good 29/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 3

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Summary of findings

This home provides children with mixed experiences. The lack of good-quality care planning and management oversight and the limited focus on developing staff practice impacts negatively on the overall quality of care that children receive. This does not take away from the positive relationships that staff form with children and the care and nurture that children receive.

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improvement to be good

The care that children experience is varied. Staff avoid conflict with children by providing limited challenge and boundaries. This has compromised the quality of care and parenting the children have experienced. Children do not always receive the support they need to have positive routines, to attend important appointments and to complete day-to-day tasks. However, staff engage children in activities and encourage their interests. This supports children to enjoy positive experiences outside the home.

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improvement to be good

One child made very limited progress while living in the home. Staff did not form the relationships and level of trust that was required to engage the child. Staff have formed positive relationships with another child. This has helped the child to make progress. They are more able to understand and recognise their emotions and express how they are feeling. This has led to a reduction in incidents. The child feels able to approach staff to discuss their worries and life events. Staff align their responses to the child’s need at the time. This has supported the child to feel settled and cared for.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not take action to ensure that children consistently attend school. This has led to one child only attending very rarely. Another child’s attendance at school has improved and staff encourage them to think about their next steps in education. When children do not attend school or attend for a reduced number of hours, staff do not provide them with planned and structured educational activities that would support their learning and development. Staff do not support children to develop the breadth of skills that are essential for independence. This limits children’s opportunities to make progress and develop the skills, knowledge and resilience that they will need for independence.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to engage with services that support their mental health. When a child has needed help, staff have listened to them and been reactive to their needs. However, there was a significant delay in staff receiving the training required to enhance their knowledge and skills to provide more effective and targeted advice and support to the child.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with those people close to them. They understand the importance of family relationships. Staff maintain positive relationships with Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 4 children’s family members and share important information. They worked effectively with a parent during a child’s return to their parent’s care.

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improvement to be good

Staff show an understanding of the risks that children are exposed to. The child feels safe in the home and can identify staff who they can talk to. The child talked positively about the support that staff had provided them in relation to their risks and how these had reduced. However, risks are not always documented and clearly assessed. Guidance for staff to follow that would help them to manage or mitigate risks for children, such as being missing from the home or to increase safety in moving vehicles, is not always clear or in place. However, this has not had a negative impact on children. Restrictions that children are subject to are not assessed, monitored or reviewed to ensure that they are necessary and proportionate.

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improvement to be good

When incidents happen, staff are responsive to the child. They provide support which aims to end the incident promptly. However, limited learning is taken from incidents. Management oversight is brief and rarely analyses and evaluates staff practice and children’s behaviours to identify any learning. This has meant that children’s care planning and risk assessments are not always informed by learning from incidents.

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improvement to be good

Following incidents, staff usually engage children in reflective conversations. However, these lack depth and do not always encourage them to reflect on their actions and to consider what support they may need to prevent further incidents. This does not provide children with the support that they need to positively change their behaviours.

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improvement to be good

The response to concerns that have been raised by children about the conduct of external professionals is mixed. One concern has been followed up but the outcome has not been shared with the child. Work to confirm whether the child wishes to formalise another complaint has not been completed. This does not show effective management of the concern or support for the child.

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

Managers are present in the home. This has helped them to build positive relationships with children and staff. They consider the positive aspects of staff practice and the progress that children make. However, they do not strive to make improvements or critically reflect on the care provided to children. Managers have not taken action to address some of the requirements made at the previous inspection. This does not reflect a learning culture.

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

Managers do not ensure that care planning for children is robust. One child did not have a care plan. Another child’s plan does not provide staff with the information, guidance and strategies that they need to provide the child with well-planned care. Effective systems for reviewing care planning for children are not in place. This has meant that children have not always received the quality of care that they need and deserve. Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 5 Staff receive regular supervision sessions. Managers consider staff’s wellbeing and encourage them to reflect on the training that they complete. There is a lack of focus on safeguarding and limited reflection on practice, in supervision and at team meetings, particularly when there have been challenging times. This does not promote team reflection, learning and development of practice.

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

Managers communicate effectively with external professionals. This has helped them to develop positive working relationships and to share important information for the benefit of children. When staff identify that children may benefit from intervention or support from external professionals, they speak to children about this and complete referrals in a timely manner. Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 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 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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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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 develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(iv)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s care needs are understood by and met by those who care for them. This includes providing staff with comprehensive, clear and child-focused care planning.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff have the skills and direction necessary to provide children with the boundaries, guidance and support that they need to develop 15 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 7 healthy routines, attend appointments and to engage with a range of activities.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that managers and staff have the skills and knowledge required to help all children to make positive progress and to develop skills that are essential for independence.

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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— that staff—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are provided with the care and support that they need to attend and engage with education.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that staff engage children in positive learning activities which mitigate the gaps in their education. 15 September 2026

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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 to aspire to their full potential; and 15 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 8 promotes their welfare.

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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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; 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) (g)(i)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that leaders, managers and staff have the required experience, skills and knowledge to provide consistent and effective care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure effective management oversight, analysis and evaluation of the care provided to children.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that concerns raised by children are addressed in a timely manner.

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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

that staff— 15 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 9 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the risks that children are exposed to are documented and that staff are provided with strategies to reduce or mitigate them.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff help children to reflect on and learn from their actions.

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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: 2750426 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Black Country House, Rounds Green Road, Oldbury B69 2DG

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Inspector

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2750426 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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