Bridgestock Housing Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Bridgstock Housing Ltd 1 Bridgestock Housing Ltd Registered provider: Bridgestock Housing Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a private provider. The service can accommodate up to 11 children and young people, in 2 shared or group-living homes that are not limited to accommodating looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 6 children.

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provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since the provider was registered in May 2024.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 20 July 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site from 22 to 23 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 enjoy living in their accommodation and describe having positive relationships with staff. They also enjoy spending time with the other young people they live with. This creates a sense of community.

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Summary of findings

A child-centred approach is integral to the service. Children are always consulted about the support they receive. Staff listen to the children and help them to achieve their goals.

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Summary of findings

Children’s safety is a priority. Staff are trained to identify risks that could affect children. Where risks to children occur, staff act quickly to help keep children safe. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Bridgstock Housing Ltd 2 Leaders and managers provide children with a good-quality service that meets their needs. They are strong advocates for the children and ensure all professionals are working together to meet children’s needs.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are positive role models. Their approach centres on promoting trust and respect for everyone. Staff follow this vision, and children experience a strong sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children like where they live. Children can visit the home before they move in, which provides them with a sense of choice. When they move in, they are welcomed by a stable staff team who take the time to get to know them well. Staff prioritise creating a warm and homely space for children to live in. The children and young people spoken to all commented on how much they feel supported by staff. One child said, ‘Staff are lovely.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are encouraged to maintain positive relationships with friends and family. Family members often visit children at their home, and children’s relationships with the people who are important to them carry on. For several children, their relationships with their family have improved through staff support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers ensure that children live in good-quality accommodation that is welcoming, nicely decorated and well maintained. From the time children move in, staff promote a culture of respect and belonging for everyone. Staff help children to form positive relationships with each other. Children often participate in group activities in the home, including having monthly movie and takeaway nights and regular outings in the local area, which builds a sense of community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

All children are engaging in education, training or employment. Several children’s school attendance has improved. One social worker highlighted a strength of the service as being that staff encouraged a child to ‘engage positively with their education’. They added that staff’s approach has empowered the child to take ownership of their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

A particular strength of the service is staff’s knowledge of each of the children and their individual support needs. Children receive targeted support in many aspects of their lives, including education, personal safety, health and independent living skills. Staff make every effort to make sure that children have the skills they need to start to make a future. Each child takes part in a life-skills assessment which determines the areas their direct worker will focus on with them. One social worker said staff ‘have been instrumental in supporting a child’s transition planning and have demonstrated a genuine commitment to their development’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are exceptionally well supported to transition on from this service. Staff make every effort to ensure that children have the life skills they need to live independently. The provider has 2 provisions for young people aged over 18. This enables some children to experience consistency in service as they move on from Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Bridgstock Housing Ltd 3 supported accommodation. Children often continue to keep in touch with the service when they leave.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children report feeling safe. The reliable staff team provides consistency of support that helps them to build strong relationships with children. All children have an allocated direct worker. However, children know that they can approach any member of staff, including the managers, for support or to raise concerns at any time. This enhances children’s sense of security.

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How well children are helped and protected

Safeguarding of children is paramount. The staff know all the children well so they can quickly identify any potential areas of risk that might arise. Effective inter- agency working ensures that there is a coordinated, multi-agency approach to managing risks. As a result, significant incidents are rare. When a serious event happens, the manager and the staff act quickly to help to keep children safe. The action they take includes sharing information with other agencies, such as the police and social care professionals and agencies.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff receive training in how to keep children safe. The staff know how to follow procedures to report safeguarding concerns. However, training for staff could be enhanced to include potential risks that children face, such as child criminal exploitation, child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and county lines.

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How well children are helped and protected

The leaders and managers follow safer recruitment processes. However, in some cases, managers do not follow their own processes. For example, one staff member’s full employment history, including gaps in employment, had not been sufficiently explored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager and nominated individual is the same person. She is a passionate and inspirational leader who leads the team by example, creating a positive ethos and culture across the service. A staff member commented that the registered service manager ‘goes above and beyond’ when it comes to supporting staff and children. Another staff member said that the registered service manager is ‘extremely supportive, thoughtful, understanding and flexible’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered manager was on annual leave during the inspection and their deputy stepped in. The deputy manager is experienced and competent and was able to evidence the many strengths of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers communicate well with other professionals. They share information where needed to make sure that children have access to all the services and support that they need. Feedback from professionals is positive. One professional commented, ‘Communication from the provider is consistently professional, timely and effective.’ Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Bridgstock Housing Ltd 4 Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the strengths of the service, as well as the areas for improvement. They regularly receive feedback from children and social workers. However, the required quality of support review has not been completed in a timely manner. This prevents Ofsted understanding the ways in which leaders and managers are using feedback to make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff have regular and effective supervision sessions that consider and prioritise children’s needs. Supervision sessions are also an effective space to constructively challenge staff and support their professional development. However, staff do not receive an annual appraisal. This prevents managers and staff from formally reviewing their performance and strengths and identifying areas for continued improvement against agreed objectives. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Bridgstock Housing 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 18 (4)(c)) 1 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review (“a quality of support review”) at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of support review, the registered person must produce a written report setting out the actions the registered person intends to take as a result of that quality of support review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the review report to the CIECSS within 28 days beginning with the day 1 September 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Bridgstock Housing Ltd 6 on which the report is completed, and make a copy of it available on request to each child’s accommodating authority. (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2) (3))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the setting. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 51)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment practice demonstrates that managers have sufficiently explored staff suitability and fitness to work with children and that they have the relevant skills, qualifications and recent experience to meet the needs of children, by verifying references and completing risk assessments when needed. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards,’ page 16)

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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: Bridgstock Housing Ltd 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Bridgestock Housing Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 9 Dalton House, 60 Windsor Avenue, London SW19 2RR

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Julie Drayton

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: info@bridgestockhousing.co.uk

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Inspector

Julie Cresswell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Bridgstock Housing 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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Inspector

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