Children's Home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 1 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is owned by a private company. The home provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living in the home. All 4 children were present during the inspection and spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager left her role in March 2026. A new manager has been in post since April 2026 and is yet to submit her application to register with Ofsted.

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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/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 23 September 2025

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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: 2562531 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/09/2025 Full Good 23/06/2025 Full Inadequate 28/10/2024 Full Good 20/03/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 3

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Summary of findings

Since the last inspection, the home has experienced a significant period of instability. Leaders made decisions to move children between this home and a sister home without full consideration of the implications. Changes in management, leadership and staffing arrangements have adversely affected the home's ability to provide consistent, predictable, safe and secure care.

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Summary of findings

During this inspection period, 4 children have moved into the home, and one child has moved out. Children's experiences and progress have been mixed, and living in the home has not consistently resulted in positive outcomes for all children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Managers have not fully considered the needs, risks and compatibility of all children moving into or already living in the home prior to decisions being made. This has resulted in the home experiencing challenging dynamics, a significant increase in serious incidents and negative experiences for children. This has undermined the stability of the home and adversely affected children's welfare and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff encourage and enable children to voice their opinions and views freely. However, these are not consistently considered when making decisions about children's day-to-day experiences and when considering a response to safeguarding concerns. As a result, children's voices are not always meaningfully influential in the decisions that affect them. This leaves some children feeling unheard and reduces their confidence in the adults responsible for their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children's experience of education is mixed. One child's attainment and engagement has significantly declined since the last inspection, and staff have not been able to support the child effectively to re-engage with education. Conversely, for some children the current manager has successfully advocated for them by working with education professionals to identify school placements best suited to their needs. Staff have developed clear plans to ensure that children receive the right level of support to engage in learning. It is hoped this will help re-establish routines, boundaries and learning opportunities and support children's overall stability, development and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are provided with enjoyable experiences. This helps children build confidence, develop new skills and strengthen relationships. This also inspires children to enjoy age- appropriate opportunities within and beyond the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 4

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

There have been significant concerns regarding how staff manage behaviour. Poor strategies have led to escalating risk-taking behaviours, assaults on staff and extensive property damage. Staff have been unable to consistently demonstrate timely and effective intervention to prevent incidents from occurring or escalating. This is compounded by workforce instability, including the use of staff unfamiliar to the children and home. These issues have contributed to a highly unstable living environment and sense of safety in the home.

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

Staff have struggled to manage children's behaviours, particularly violence and aggression targeted at staff. This has resulted in police being called to assist, and, on one occasion, children have been taken into custody. On another occasion, staff failed to intervene swiftly, and a child harmed themselves. Some of these incidents may have been avoided had staff responded more effectively to the emerging risks and escalating behaviours. The frequency and seriousness of these incidents significantly impact upon the safety and welfare of children. Additionally, the reliance on police intervention to manage unwanted behaviour also risks children being unnecessarily criminalised because of behaviours that could be managed by staff equipped to respond to children's complex needs.

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

An allegation of harm and abuse was poorly managed. While steps were taken to report the allegation, the correct safeguarding processes were not followed or referred to statutory services. Ofsted was not notified of the allegation, which limits its oversight. Furthermore, the child did not receive an outcome, resulting in a lack of closure and assurance for the child. This shortfall demonstrates weaknesses in safeguarding and management oversight. It also undermines children's confidence about concerns of harm or abuse being taken seriously.

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

While there is some advocacy by staff and managers to secure the right intervention and support for children, this is not consistently effective. On one occasion, there was a significant delay in making an appropriate referral following safeguarding concerns for one child. The delay hindered timely targeted support by specialist professionals being made available to the child. It further reduces the ability to keep children safe and help them make safe choices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management arrangements have recently experienced significant change. The manager is new to the home. While demonstrating strong leadership qualities, they have not yet had sufficient opportunity to fully embed their practice and drive sustained improvements. Additionally, a new responsible individual has assumed their role as part of a planned transition. These changes have impacted on management continuity and oversight, at a time when strong management is required. Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 5 There have been several changes in the staff team, which has placed additional pressure on the core team. This has resulted in high staff turnover and increased reliance on external staff to maintain staffing levels. This has created inconsistency in the day-to-day care provided. It has also provided opportunities for children to test and challenge boundaries.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staffing ratios required to meet the needs of children are not consistent. Staffing shortages have also required the managers to undertake shifts in the home. Consequently, managers have been stretched across both operational and leadership responsibilities. Despite the additional pressures, managers have in the main maintained oversight of the home. This has largely been achieved through managers working beyond what is expected of them to ensure the service remains operational. This approach is not sustainable and compromises the levels of supervision, support and intervention children and staff require.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Notwithstanding the significant challenges experienced in the home, staff speak positively about their roles. They feel supported by their colleagues and manager. Staff demonstrate a commitment to improving the quality of care to children but acknowledge additional resource and support is required to ensure that children's needs can be met consistently and effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Relationships with external professionals and families requires strengthening. Feedback is mixed, with concerns highlighted about communication and information-sharing. This is particularly noted when children move into the home and after incidents. This weakens the effectiveness of collaborative working by the team of professionals around each child. Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risks to children are identified promptly and responded to effectively to reduce the potential for harm to children and others. This includes ensuring that safeguarding concerns are fully addressed in line with safeguarding polices and statutory requirements. 24 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—

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to— 24 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 7 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; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child's placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children's moves into and out of the home are accurately assessed and managed. This includes ensuring that staff have the appropriate skills and experience to meet children's needs and dynamics.

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for 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

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)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h)) 24 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 8 In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home is sufficiently staffed by individuals who have the skills and experience required to meet children's needs so that continuity of care is maintained.

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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: 2562531 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited

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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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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Emmaline Scoular

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Inspector

Tonia Dubidat, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2562531 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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