Children's Home run by Safe Base Care Limited in Wirral

Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 1 SC480075 Registered provider: Safe Base Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is run by a private provider. The home is registered to provide care for 3 children who may experience emotional and social difficulties and/or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2025.

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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: none Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2025 Full Good 18/03/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/10/2023 Full Outstanding 25/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 3

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Summary of findings

Children have moved from the home sooner than expected. Children's risk management plans are not consistently updated to reflect all current risks. As a result, shortfalls in safeguarding practices have been identified. Leaders and managers have identified areas of practice that need to be improved and there are plans in place to address them. However, the impact is yet to be seen.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, 4 children have moved from the home. A decision was made to move one child due to staff being unable to keep them safe. As a result, the child moved before progress could be made.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand children's current health needs. However, staff do not always speak to children about the health risks associated with some activities, including the use of e- cigarettes. This is a missed opportunity to support children to make healthier choices and keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to develop independence skills in line with their age. There is a separate space in the home that children can use for activities, including preparing their own meals. This ensures that children are making progress in learning skills for semi- independent living.

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improvement to be good

Children's engagement in learning is promoted by staff who recognise the importance of education and engagement in activities that develop children's skills. This has included supporting one child to attend training in a music studio.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers build positive relationships with family members. Some family members visit the home to spend time with children. This supports the children's identity and allows them to maintain positive relationships with people who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Staff consult with children about aspects of their daily lives through weekly meetings. This includes supporting them to participate in decision-making about their lives. Where it is not possible to act on the wishes of children, staff provide support to the child to understand the reasons for this.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have been proactive in escalating concerns with the placing authority when there have been issues with children's care planning. Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 4

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improvement to be good

Children's risk management plans are not regularly reviewed, which means they do not always reflect all known risks. This also means that staff do not have the guidance they need to update their practice when there is an increase in risk.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff do not always take immediate action to ensure their safe return. For one child, there was a delay in them being reported as missing despite concerns that they were under the influence of unknown substances. This left the child at potential risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

When incidents of self-injurious behaviour have occured, it is unclear how staff have responded, and leaders and managers have not always had sufficient oversight of these incidents. This is a missed opportunity to review whether children are being offered the support that they need to reduce risks.

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improvement to be good

Where consequences are used, they are not always recorded. When consequences are recorded, leaders and managers do not always evaluate the effectiveness of consequences. This means that there is no reflection or learning to ensure proportionate and effective in improving behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers undertake appropriate safer recruitment processes. This helps to ensure that staff are safe to work with children.

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

Management oversight of the home is not robust. Although some areas of staff practice are evaluated by managers, this is not consistent across all areas. This is a missed opportunity to identify areas of development and ensure that the child's care is of the highest standard.

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

Recording in the home is of variable quality. It is often unclear which staff members have been involved in incidents, and documents are not always signed and dated.

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

Staff receive regular supervision. This provides staff with space to reflect on their own wellbeing, progress and development. Reflective conversations about children's needs and risks take place and safeguarding is discussed.

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

Staff receive annual appraisals that identify actions to help staff progress. However, appraisals do not consider the views of children, other staff members or professionals. This is a missed opportunity to use feedback from others to improve staff practice. Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 5 Staff who are new to the home follow a clear induction plan. This includes an introduction to the home and explanation of how it operates. They are also provided the opportunity to shadow more-experienced members of staff. Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 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— that staff—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that plans to assess risk are regularly updated and consider all known risks for the child.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that staff understand their responsibilities in safeguarding children, especially when children are missing from the home, and follow the child's risk 4 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 7 assessment and take immediate action to ensure their safe return.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and manager must ensure that there are sufficient systems in place to review the care being provided in the home. 4 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 4 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 8 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that all consequences are appropriately recorded and that there is evidence of oversight to review the effectiveness.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that children's records include all relevant information and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. 4 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all children receive proactive, direct work that is targeted to their specific needs to help them understand how to keep themselves safe. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards' page 42, paragraph 9.7)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals consider, where reasonable and practical, the views of children and other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.5) Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 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: SC480075 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Safe Base Care Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 1 Seafield Road, Wirral CH62 1EQ

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Inspectors

Ruth Mortimer-Jones, Social Care Inspector Anna Belshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC480075 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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