Andmu Care Services Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd 1 Andmu Care Services Ltd Registered provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This service is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers accommodation for up to 19 children in 4 group-living homes that are solely used by looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

The provider operates in the east of England. At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support for 16 children aged 16 to 17 years.

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provider

The service manager and nominated individual registered with Ofsted when the organisation registered in August 2024.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 6 July 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site between 8 and 10 July 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

Most children report positive experiences and say they feel safe. However, some children said they feel isolated and would benefit from greater staff engagement.

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Summary of findings

Maintenance and repairs of properties are responded to promptly. However, some properties lack a homely feel and require work.

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Summary of findings

Careful consideration is given to matching residents. This contributes to harmonious living arrangements.

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Summary of findings

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s individual needs. Managers ensure that any barriers to education are addressed quickly. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd 2 Managers are visible and accessible. They maintain positive relationships with children and professionals.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding arrangements are generally effective. However, management systems are not yet fully embedded, and there are gaps in safer recruitment and training records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children mostly speak positively about living in their homes and say they feel safe and happy. They are comfortable approaching staff when they have concerns and report feeling listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff make efforts to communicate effectively with children who speak English as an additional language. However, important documents, including house rules and children’s guides, are not routinely available in children’s native languages. This limits children’s understanding of important information about the service and their entitlements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The provider works collaboratively with local commissioning partners to enable opportunities for children from different services to meet. This helps to reduce social isolation. However, a small number of children reported feeling isolated and requested greater encouragement from staff to engage them in social opportunities and build wider community networks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from living in homes that are well located in their local communities. Children value the proximity to local shops, colleges and community amenities. Repairs are responded to promptly; however, leaders do not monitor or review accommodation standards effectively. This results in some properties lacking a homely feel and needing modernising. In one home, the communal living area does not provide sufficient seating for all residents, limiting opportunities for children to spend time together comfortably.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff receive training and support from managers, which helps give them the skills and confidence to develop trusting relationships with children from a range of backgrounds. Children said that staff support their cultural, religious and individual identities. They speak positively about staff recognising birthdays and significant religious events, making them feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children benefit from regular sessions with staff that focus on developing their independence skills and increasing their awareness of welfare and safety issues. Practical arrangements, such as household cleaning rotas, help children understand shared responsibility and develop skills that will support them in adulthood. Staff engage children in meaningful discussions about current issues that may affect them, including wider community tensions, to help them understand risks and stay safe. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd 3 Most children are in education. Professionals speak positively about the commitment shown by staff in encouraging children to attend and achieve in education. When barriers to enrolment arise, staff work proactively to identify alternative arrangements. This helps ensure that children have a meaningful college experience and gaps in their learning are minimised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Support plans, key-work records, daily logs and children’s profiles contain useful information that helps staff provide consistent support. However, recording systems are not yet sufficiently consistent across the service. As a result, children’s views, progress and achievements are not always captured clearly, making it difficult to monitor children’s development and ensure that plans remain focused on measurable outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the additional challenges faced by some children, including the impact of trauma, uncertainty and immigration-related issues. Managers and staff speak passionately about supporting children to achieve positive outcomes and prepare successfully for independence. Relationships often continue after children move on from the service. This includes maintaining supportive contact with former residents, one of whom is now employed by the provider.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staffing arrangements are generally effective. One home benefits from 24-hour staffing. Managers deploy staff flexibly across other properties to ensure that children receive meaningful support. This approach helps ensure that important appointments are attended and emerging issues are appropriately addressed.

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How well children are helped and protected

Safer recruitment practices are evident. However, arrangements for monitoring and maintaining recruitment records are not sufficiently robust. For example, leaders were unsure whether a member of staff had an up-to-date Disclosure and Barring Service check. While it was later found they had, information is held in a manner that limits managers’ ability to oversee compliance and quality assurance processes effectively.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff demonstrate an awareness of children’s vulnerabilities and experiences. They have knowledge of specialist charities and organisations that provide additional support to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. However, opportunities to make fuller use of these external services, resources and specialist training have not yet been fully explored.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children are aware of house rules and know who to contact in emergencies. This helps children feel secure and confident in their living arrangements.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children benefit from staff’s reassurance and practical support during periods of uncertainty. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the procedures to follow should safeguarding concerns arise. For instance, they are aware of the signs of exploitation. Leaders escalate these concerns and seek support and additional Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd 4 resources when required. Staff advocate for children and help them navigate challenges associated with housing and immigration matters.

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How well children are helped and protected

The provider’s homes are closely located, enabling managers to maintain effective oversight of safeguarding incidents in the service. Managers are visible to children and respond promptly when additional support is required. Records reflect children’s achievements and aspirations and how staff intend to work towards the plans agreed at their reviews.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Auditing activity takes place across the service but is not consistently recorded or evidenced. Consequently, opportunities to identify and address shortfalls have been delayed. The provider has taken steps to improve this and has commissioned some independent audits. These have begun to take place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders work collaboratively across the organisation. However, the arrangements and storage of important documents limits managers’ ability to maintain good oversight. The approach to recording incidents is inconsistent and is not monitored effectively. Leaders spoke openly about a historical complaint that could not be located in service records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The quality of staff supervision is improving. However, gaps remain in supervision records. Similarly, staff induction processes are in place for new staff, but recording of induction activities is not good enough. Progress through induction is not consistently tracked, making it difficult for managers to demonstrate that staff have completed the required learning within the expected timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The provider does not currently operate a formal appraisal system that evaluates staff performance, development and career progression. This limits opportunities for managers and staff to review longer-term achievements, identify development goals and promote continuous professional growth.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The provider maintains a training matrix to monitor staff’s learning and development. This system is not sufficient in tracking staff’s individual training journeys or highlighting when refresher training is due. Consequently, managers do not always have clear oversight of workforce development and ongoing training, with there being a lack of clarity regarding the competition of inductions for several members of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders hold regular team meetings and encourage staff to reflect on and share their learning following training events. This helps managers to identify gaps in knowledge and provides opportunities for additional learning and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The provider maintains regular communication with relevant professionals through comprehensive monthly reports. This helps to ensure that agencies remain informed about children’s welfare, progress and emerging needs. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd 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

implement recruitment practices that ensure staff are suitable to work with children and to keep them safe from harm(1);

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each child is fully aware of their entitlements throughout the duration of their placement in supported accommodation, including—

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Requirement Due date

what they can expect from the provision of supported accommodation,

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Requirement Due date

where relevant, their entitlements as a looked after child,

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Requirement Due date

where relevant, their entitlements as a care leaver, and where necessary, support each child to access those entitlements. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(e)(g)(h)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 21 August 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the supported accommodation is a nurturing, homely, welcoming and supportive environment that meets children’s needs. The provider must comply with relevant health and safety requirements, including those relating to alarms, fire safety, food storage and hygiene. However, in doing so, they should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 29)  The registered person should ensure that they explore the views of children who feel isolated and take appropriate action in response to this. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 43)  The registered person should ensure that the standard of recording is consistently

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Recommendations

good across the service. Information about children should always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 58)  The registered person should actively scrutinise the settings and make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. The registered person should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns, and they are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 53)  The registered person should ensure that complaints are appropriately recorded, including details of the complaint, the actions taken in response, and the outcomes of any investigations. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation

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Recommendations

Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 61)

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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: Andmu Care Services Ltd 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Chanda Mulenga

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Inspector

Chris Jay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Andmu Care Services Ltd 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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