ROC Transitions South Durham

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 1 ROC Transitions South Durham Registered provider: ROC Transitions Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

A private provider owns this supported accommodation service. It offers accommodation in 17 properties registered to deliver supported accommodation in self-contained units for the sole use of one person, or for the child and other individuals living with the child as agreed by the accommodating authority or the supported accommodation undertaking.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, 11 looked-after children or care leavers were using this service.

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provider

The organisation registered with Ofsted in August 2023. A new registered service manager has been in post since July 2025.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 1 June 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 3 to 5 June 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children's experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not consistently operate this service in accordance with The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Children whose needs and risks exceed the scope of the regulations have been admitted to this service. This places them at a greater risk of harm and impedes their progress.

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Summary of findings

Gaps in management monitoring affect the registered service manager's ability to oversee all aspects of the supported accommodation undertaking promptly and effectively, including the review of children's risk assessments. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 2 Children spoke positively about their experiences and progress. Staff are ambitious for children to succeed in education, training or employment and they support them in creative ways to conquer any barriers to their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children's progress and experiences in this supported accommodation service vary. While some children have flourished, leading to successful outcomes, other children have experienced fluctuating progress and, for some children, a distinct decline.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Flaws in the admission process has resulted in children moving into this service who have needs that go beyond the expectations of supported accommodation. This raises serious harm and exploitation concerns. For some children, the risks have been significant enough to trigger unplanned endings, preventing them from experiencing planned transitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

All children spoke positively about the support they receive from the skilled and caring staff team. Children said that staff have helped them to develop new skills, such as cooking and cleaning, budgeting and life skills. Some children spoke about the significant positive impact that the service has made to their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff are ambitious for children to succeed in education, training or employment and they support them to conquer any barriers to their learning. Children's access to a nationally recognised qualification and activity-based programmes help to improve their personal, social and employability potential. The extent of children's access to this form of learning varies. A small number of children have gained paid employment or voluntary work in areas that support their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children to attend primary and specialist health appointments, which promote their physical and emotional health needs. Drug and alcohol services are available for children who need them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from trusted and secure relationships with reliable and supportive staff who advocate for them. Children enjoy a diverse range of positive and memorable experiences. For example, children have participated in a community project, raising funds to support trips to Mexico. Such trips not only engage children in projects that help people in need, but also strengthen children's confidence and sense of purpose. Other key moments, such as supporting children to follow their goals, dreams and talents, celebrating birthdays, holidays away and marking their achievements widen children's outlook on life and make them feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are actively encouraged to build and sustain positive relationships with the significant people in their lives. This helps children to have a sense of belonging as they move towards adulthood. Lifelong links enable children who are leaving the service into adulthood to remain connected with staff, which mimics family life. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 3

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How well children are helped and protected

Children said that they feel safe, both inside and outside of the accommodation. Professionals raised no safeguarding concerns about the service.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff understand children's risks and vulnerabilities and follow their individual risk management plans. Staff regularly talk with the children to help them to understand how some of their behaviours could seriously harm them. However, for some children whose needs exceed the scope of supported accommodation, their high level of risk remains largely unchanged or has increased. Furthermore, the lack of shared understanding of the risk category for one child between leaders, managers and staff may result in the child not receiving the appropriate mitigation strategies.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff use de-escalation skills to reason with children when they are upset and angry, which avoids children being physically managed. The warning system intends to help children to manage their behaviours effectively. However, for some children who are not yet ready to live in supported accommodation, warnings have not been effective and their extreme and dangerous behaviours have required police involvement.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children know how to complain. Allegations or suspicions of harm against staff are effectively managed. The learning from allegations is filtered to the staff team. This reinforces the expectations when supporting vulnerable children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Overall, the children's accommodation is personalised and maintained to a good standard. One child's bedroom was below acceptable standards. Conflicting explanations were given about when the room went into decline. The remedial action taken during the inspection has addressed this issue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers aspire for children to succeed. The registered service manager brings extensive experience in working with vulnerable children. They are willing to reflect, learn and improve as well as lead by example. Nonetheless, leaders and managers have not consistently ensured that only children who are ready to live in supported accommodation are admitted to the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Management monitoring of the service has not been consistently effective. This is because shortfalls have not been identified or acted on in a timely manner. For example, the records related to a recent serious incident involving one child are unclear about who did what and when. This is concerning given the child's significant risks. The registered service manager has accepted that there has been a deficit in the records and undertook to address the concern.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager's lack of insight into a child's ethnic origin, nearly a year into their placement in the service, raises questions about how identity, cultural and religious needs are identified, met and explicitly recorded in the support plan. Similarly, management monitoring has not recognised the difficulties navigating and Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 4 understanding some children's support plans, which does not promote consistent practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The 6-monthly reviews of the quality of support do not include staff feedback. This makes it unclear how the views of staff are used to influence service developments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Professionals speak positively about the leadership and management of the service and staff. One concern that was raised by a local authority was taken seriously by the leaders and managers or acted on. However, there is no formal mechanism for children who may wish to raise issues that are not formal complaints. This does not ensure that all children feel listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers promote a learning and reflective culture, ensuring that staff have access to regular learning and development opportunities. Newly recruited staff receive a thorough induction, shadow opportunities and probation period, with consistent management and peer support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff feel motivated and supported by managers to carry out their role and responsibilities. Daily handovers and team meetings help staff to keep up to date with the children's progress and service developments. Managers and staff receive regular supervision that provides a reliable space to reflect on their practice with the children and check-in on their welfare. The clinical psychologist support provides an invaluable contribution to the team. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(f)) 31 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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

have their individual needs met. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii) 31 July 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure that children's risks are accurately reflected in their plans and kept under review.

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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

keep the child's support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child's needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children's support plans are up to date, easy to follow and include information about children's ethnic, cultural and religious needs and how these needs will be met. 31 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 9 (3)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the information in the document about the admission of children to the service fully aligns with the Supported Accommodation Regulations. 31 July 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of support provided by the service and the experiences of children living in each of the provider's settings, looking at the impact the support is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. In particular, they should include staff feedback to show how they inform service improvements. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 62) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 7

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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: ROC Transitions South Durham 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: ROC Transitions Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Hope House, Burnhope, Newton Aycliffe DL5 7ER

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Vicky Richmond

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Inspectors

Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Laura Grundy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: ROC Transitions South Durham 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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