Gayton House

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Gayton House 1 Gayton House Registered provider: Harrow Hotel Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

Gayton House registered as a supported accommodation provider on 18 January 2024. The nominated individual and registered service manager are the same person. The registered service manager registered on 18 January 2024.

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provider

This provider offers non-ring-fenced shared accommodation and can accommodate up to 30 children within one premises. At the time of the inspection, 6 children aged 16 to 17 years were receiving support.

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Inspection dates: 13 to 17 July 2026

The inspection was announced on 13 July 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site from 15 to 17 July 2026.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 3 years.

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Summary of findings

Children experience well-coordinated support. The staff consistently prioritise the children's safety and wellbeing.

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Summary of findings

The registered manager and local authority work side by side and in partnership. Children make positive progress towards their independence with the measured, consistent and targeted support from staff.

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Summary of findings

The registered service manager has good oversight of the quality of support being provided to children, resulting in a seamless approach to responding to and supporting children.

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Summary of findings

Incidents are rare but have not been reported to the regulator. Some aspects of staff recruitment require review. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Gayton House 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

This is a unique service that is commissioned only by one local authority. The provider offers the accommodation, housekeeping support and 24-hour staffing for children who are seeking asylum. The local authority provides 2 specialist support workers based on site who work directly with children during weekdays. The children benefit from the quality of this hand-in-hand working arrangement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children's support needs are centre stage of staff practice. When children arrive, they receive a welcome starter kit that includes toiletries, a laundry basket, a dressing gown and slippers. The premises are warm and welcoming. One child said, 'The people here are really supportive and caring.'

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Overall experiences and progress of children

A key strength is the quality of communication with the local authority's service manager, team managers and social workers. The registered service manager and the support workers work closely together daily. This joined up approach ensures continuity of support for all children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children are in education and attending college. Those who are due to start in the new term are accessing a befriending service, which provides structured training, tutoring in English, practical and emotional support and friendship for separated children. Children have goals for their futures and know the types of careers they wanted to aspire to. Staff value the importance of education and are ambitious for children to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have access to a broad range of health services. The staff are attentive to the health needs of children and ensure they register with health services, such as a doctor, dentist and optician. The staff ensure that individual children's ongoing health needs, such as immunisations, health appointments and medication, are monitored. These activities are carried out in an appropriately phased manner to avoid overwhelming the children at the early stages of moving into the accommodation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The provider is proactive in helping children to maintain their identity and develop interests by encouraging them to personalise their rooms with items of their choice. One child has a pull-up bar, others have appropriate religious symbols, a bible, a prayer mat, a rosary and family pictures. This helps children to experience belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff and support workers guide children in their progression towards independence in practical ways, such as cooking, managing allowances, keeping bedrooms clean and showing respect for the shared environment. This enables children to share a mutual appreciation for living with others in a comfortable environment and affords children privacy for themselves and when friends or family visit. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Gayton House 3

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How well children are helped and protected

The staff help the children to settle and participate in the opportunities available to them from arrival to when they leave. Children say that they feel safe in the accommodation and the community.

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How well children are helped and protected

The staff are diverse in ethnicity, culture and life experience, which ensures that children receive support from a team of people who have a depth of understanding of what children will be going through. This means that children gain meaningful, knowledgeable support from staff, such as in their understanding of the asylum- seeking process and its complexities.

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How well children are helped and protected

The staff are quick to anticipate and identify any concerns. These are reported to the local authority, and a joint response is identified. Children say that they know who to speak with if they have any concerns or complaints.

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How well children are helped and protected

The registered service manager successfully uses a reward system as an incentive for helping children to progress their independence skills. Staff recognise that children who appear to demonstrate resilience in relation to their emotional needs can be masking their needs following trauma and so may say no to mental wellbeing support. To help with this support, staff are attentive and offer support at the pace of children while ensuring that support remains available to them. The staff build strong, positive relationships with children that ensure they feel that they can trust those around them and share any concerns.

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How well children are helped and protected

When considering new admissions, the registered service manager liaises with staff. They review referral information carefully to consider what the child needs holistically to ensure that the team has the resources they need to meet these. They consider compatibility with those who already live in the service and any potential impact for other children. To help with navigating change, the registered service manager identifies an older young person to become a 'buddy' for the new person. This helps new children to make connections and adjust on the first few days when they are anxious about being in a new environment.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children rarely go missing and there are few safeguarding issues. Nonetheless, serious incidents have occurred, such as a child being harmed in the community, that, while responded to appropriately, were not notified to Ofsted. The lack of notifications to Ofsted did not impact the children. However, it limits Ofsted's regulatory oversight.

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How well children are helped and protected

While the registered service manager has been reviewing safer recruitment practice to inform recruitment activity, references are not obtained in writing before being verified. This may lead to relevant information about prospective employees being misunderstood or miscommunicated. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Gayton House 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager works proactively with the local authority and support workers, and they have regular meetings about the children. This enables shared oversight about what is happening with each person receiving support and ensures the best support possible to maximise opportunities for children to develop the individual skills they need as they progress towards adulthood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager knows the children well, and this starts from the time a child is admitted. The registered service manager is sensitive, nurturing and responsive to the needs of children, especially those who may have experienced trauma prior to arriving at the service. One social worker spoke of an occasion where a child, who was admitted late evening, was hungry. The registered service manager, knowing how the child might be feeling, prepared a hot meal for the child. This enabled the child from day one to feel nurtured.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The local authority colleagues and managers are proud of this service. The managers are in daily discussion with the staff team and there is regular revision and checks of each child's current and changing support needs. The managers ensure that the staff have access to regular, relevant training, including face-to-face safeguarding training. Staff say that they feel very well supported by the registered service manager and have the guidance they need to fulfil their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The staff come from a range of culturally diverse backgrounds and bring their own lived experiences to their roles, which adds another layer of empathy to working with children who have been separated from their families. The leaders and staff organise a range of activities during the year to reflect and celebrate the rich diversity of cultural heritages and religious observations in the whole group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager maintains the property to a good standard and responds to complaints and repairs readily, resulting in children feeling confident in the team around them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Social workers say that the provider is proactive in their approach with every child. One social worker who works with more than one child receiving support here said that 'a person-centred approach has been demonstrated with all children'. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Gayton House 5

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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 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.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person is satisfied that the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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) (3)(d)) 24 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious; 24 August 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Gayton House 6 there is an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry);

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Requirement Due date

there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

any other individuals or organisations who or which have been notified;

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

is made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f) (4)(a)(b))

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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: Gayton House 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Harrow Hotel Services Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Transport House, Uxbridge Road, Hillingdon, Uxbridge UB10 0LY

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: GaytonHouse.Harrow@gmail.com

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Inspector

Phyllis Dyer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Gayton House 8 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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