Children's Home run by Surety Care Limited in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 1 Registered provider: Surety Care 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 provide care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since July 2025.

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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 this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. The inspector met and spoke with the child.

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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 inadequate

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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: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/06/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 3

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Summary of findings

Children’s experiences have been affected by inconsistent care planning, poor communication and weaknesses in leadership oversight. Although there are some examples of positive practice, including carefully planned admissions and support for education, children do not consistently receive coordinated, child-centred care. Safeguarding arrangements are weakened by unclear risk management strategies, inconsistent implementation of care plans and failures in following child protection procedures. Leadership and governance have not ensured effective oversight, resulting in poor communication, inconsistent management direction and a failure to identify and address significant shortfalls in practice. Consequently, children are not consistently provided with safe, effective or well-managed care, and sustained improvement is required.

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improvement to be good

Children do not consistently experience good-quality care. The home is spacious, appropriately furnished and generally well decorated, however, it does not consistently provide children with a clean, welcoming and homely environment. Concerns about the condition of one child’s bedroom identified at the previous inspection have not been sufficiently addressed. One child’s bedroom remained cluttered and unkempt, with dirty laundry covering the floor and belongings still unpacked. Although staff have encouraged the child to maintain their room, this has not resulted in sustained improvement. Weak management oversight has allowed these issues to continue, limiting the child’s dignity, comfort and sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Children do not receive clear messages about their care. One child was unable to understand arrangements for their supervision, free time and independence because staff provided inconsistent information. Professional discussions about the child’s care regularly take place in their presence, involving them in decisions that should have been agreed by adults beforehand. At times, the child directs staff about the plans for the day, demonstrating that professional boundaries and decision-making have become unclear.

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improvement to be good

Children’s wishes and feelings are listened to but not consistently supported by effective communication. One child described feeling unhappy, isolated and embarrassed by the level of supervision they receive. They want greater independence, to attend school like their peers and to live, as they described it, ‘a normal life’. However, they could not explain what they needed to achieve for restrictions to reduce, because staff had not provided consistent explanations. This uncertainty leaves the child confused about their care and reduces their confidence in the adults supporting them.

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improvement to be good

There are examples of more effective practice. One child’s move was carefully planned and completed at a pace that reflected their individual needs. This enabled them to Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 4 become familiar with the staff caring for them and their new surroundings before moving in, supporting a positive transition and the early development of trusting relationships.

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress in some areas. One child is attending education and, although they are not yet accessing a full-time timetable, staff encourage and support them to attend regularly. These strengths demonstrate that children can make progress. However, inconsistent communication, weak management oversight and variable care planning mean that children do not yet experience consistently good care.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding arrangements are not consistently effective because leaders have not ensured that systems to protect children are sufficiently robust. Recruitment records demonstrate that safer recruitment procedures have generally been followed. However, the director’s personnel file does not contain all the documentation required under Schedule 2 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. This is particularly concerning because the director undertakes direct work with children in addition to their governance responsibilities. Consequently, the provider cannot demonstrate that all appropriate pre-employment checks were completed before the director undertook regulated activities with children. This weakens safeguarding arrangements and reflects ineffective oversight.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are reviewed regularly but do not provide staff with sufficiently clear or proportionate guidance to manage risk consistently. Conflicting information regarding the level of supervision required has resulted in inconsistent implementation by staff. Although one child has had few missing episodes since they arrived at the home, there is no clear evidence to demonstrate why continuous two-to-one adult supervision and restrictions on independent access to the community remain necessary. Consequently, leaders cannot demonstrate that these restrictions are proportionate based on current risk or are subject to meaningful review.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding plans do not consistently provide staff with the information they need to respond effectively to identified risks. Although allegations are recognised as a significant area of risk, there is no clear allegation management plan identifying agreed safeguarding actions, professional responsibilities or the role of partner agencies. These omissions reduce the effectiveness of safety planning, increase the likelihood of inconsistent responses to concerns and weaken staff’s ability to protect children through coordinated practice.

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improvement to be good

Child protection procedures have not always been followed. On one occasion, safeguarding concerns were not managed in line with child protection arrangements, creating potential delays in information-sharing and multi-agency decision-making. Failure to consistently follow agreed safeguarding procedures increases the risk that children will not receive timely protection when concerns arise. Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 5 Leaders and staff do not consistently recognise the impact that their decision-making has on children’s safety and welfare. Inconsistent professional responses and the unclear implementation of safeguarding plans have contributed to behaviours escalating rather than reducing risk. Consequently, safeguarding practice is not yet sufficiently effective to ensure that children are consistently helped and protected from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not established robust governance arrangements capable of identifying and addressing weaknesses in practice. Staff consistently describe poor communication, unclear management arrangements and a lack of visible leadership. Operational responsibilities are not clearly understood, including who holds decision-making authority and safeguarding responsibility at different times. This has resulted in inconsistent management direction, reduced staff confidence and poor accountability across the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff consistently report that safeguarding concerns, significant incidents and children’s disclosures are not always responded to promptly or communicated effectively. There is uncertainty regarding the management of allegations and statutory notifications, with some staff expressing concern that significant incidents had been minimised. Although not every concern could be independently evidenced, the consistency of these accounts, alongside wider inspection findings, demonstrates that leaders have failed to establish an open and transparent safeguarding culture where concerns are consistently recognised, escalated and acted on appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not ensured that staff receive effective support or professional challenge to improve practice. Staff describe supervision as task focused and of limited value in supporting reflective practice. Several staff express dissatisfaction with appraisal outcomes and report limited opportunities to learn following serious incidents. Training for some staff has not been completed. This includes the director, who undertakes direct work with children without up-to-date training. These weaknesses have limited staff development and reduced leaders’ ability to provide effective oversight of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The acting manager demonstrated insight into the service’s weaknesses and was able to describe actions taken to improve communication, strengthen safeguarding oversight and introduce learning following concerns. However, these actions have largely been implemented in response to emerging issues rather than through effective leadership and quality assurance. The acting manager acknowledged that previous communication with staff had not been effective and that intended improvements had not consistently been translated into day-to-day practice. Consequently, staff experiences continue to differ significantly from leaders’ expectations, providing insufficient assurance that improvements have become embedded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Independent scrutiny is ineffective. The acting manager has not received adequate supervision or oversight from the responsible individual, who has not completed audits or maintained regular oversight since the previous inspection. Although a new responsible individual has recently been appointed, their oversight is not yet established. Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 6 Consequently, leaders have been unable to demonstrate sustained improvement or provide assurance that children consistently receive safe, effective and well-managed care. Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 7

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child, (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff consistently ascertain and consider the child’s views, wishes and feelings when making decisions about their care. Staff should help children to understand how their views have been taken into account, provide clear reasons for decisions made about their life and ensure children know what they need to achieve in order to progress. 16 September 2026

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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— 16 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 8 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff understand and fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities by consistently following the child’s plans, implementing agreed risk management strategies and taking effective action, including making timely referrals to the appropriate safeguarding agencies whenever there are concerns about a child’s welfare.

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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

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

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)(b)(c)(f)(h)) 16 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 9 In particular, the registered person should ensure that effective leadership and management arrangements provide clear direction, consistent communication and robust oversight of practice. Monitoring and review systems should be used to identify and address weaknesses promptly, staff should receive effective supervisions and training, and leaders should ensure safeguarding responsibilities and management decisions are consistently understood and implemented across the staff team.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(b) (3)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that no individual undertakes work involving regular contact with children unless all recruitment checks have been completed and are available, to demonstrate that the individual is suitable for the role. 16 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the responsible individual is effective in the home. 16 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 10

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of its children. Care and attention should always be given to children’s bedrooms. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2817732 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Surety Care Limited

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Inspector

Lauren Barwell, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2817732 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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