Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 1 Registered provider: Hull City Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. It provides care for one child.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of this inspection, who was spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024. At the time of the inspection, an interim manager was overseeing the day-to-day running of the home.

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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

Date of last inspection: 3 September 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/09/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 3

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Summary of findings

Several shortfalls in practice have hindered the child’s progress since the last inspection. High levels of staff absence, including the registered manager, mean that staff have been challenged to provide a consistent approach to care. This has resulted in a chaotic environment where staff were challenged to seek solutions to better support the child. Reassuringly, life in the home has improved since the appointment of an interim manager in June 2026.

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improvement to be good

There has been a lack of focused and meaningful care planning since the last inspection. Consequently, important issues in the child’s life have been ineffectively managed. This has resulted in the child often feeling overwhelmed and unsupported.

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improvement to be good

The child has concluded Year 11 with no formal qualifications. Instability in the staffing of the home has not helped the child approach their education with the right levels of support. As a result, this has significantly undermined the capacity of staff to solve persistent issues that are preventing the child’s ability to reconnect with their learning.

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improvement to be good

The children’s guide fails to provide a starting point for children to learn about what life in the home should look like. There is a lack of meaningful guidance associated with having a healthy daily routine, sleep hygiene, access to the internet and support to better manage their mobile phone. Notably, these issues were all areas where the child needs better coordinated support as, cumulatively, they continue to hinder their progress.

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improvement to be good

Relationships between the child and staff have vastly improved. Staff are now more confident to better support the child, especially when the child is upset. The appointment of the interim manager and their input from the interim manager have been significant in this recent upturn in the child’s care.

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improvement to be good

Solutions have not been meaningfully explored to address the child’s debilitating daily routine. Consequently, factors that have contributed to the child’s poor sleep hygiene, such as mobile phone usage throughout the evening, continue to be a significant issue in the child’s life. This lack of appropriate support fails to encourage the child to develop good habits.

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improvement to be good

Staff have experienced high challenge when trying to support the child to recover when the child becomes agitated and frustrated. This has been influenced by a lack of Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 4 meaningful reflection and learning following significant incidents. Consequently, there have been several occasions where staff have been over-reliant on the intervention of emergency services.

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improvement to be good

There have been challenges in establishing and maintaining a stable staff team. This has been disruptive for the child to experience. However, new staff have now been recruited and there is an ongoing recruitment strategy. Importantly, safer recruitment practices have not been compromised, despite the high challenge that the organisation has experienced.

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improvement to be good

There is now much improved collaboration with the local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). As a result, staff are better supported to respond to situations where the child has resorted to self-harm as a coping mechanism. Furthermore, staff are gaining a better understanding of seeking solutions to positively influence the child’s mental wellbeing.

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

The staff induction process is hindering the interim manager’s capacity to better support new staff to adapt to their role. This is due to a lack of meaningful structure and content that is crucial to developing positive staff practice. An example is the lack of introducing the concept of the therapeutic model of care that staff are expected to learn and apply.

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

Although an independent person visits and reports on the child’s care, their reports have been late on two occasions. On a further two occasions, the reports have not been submitted to Ofsted at all. Furthermore, the independent person needs more support and guidance to enable more meaningful interactions with the child. Cumulatively, these issues decrease the transparency surrounding what the child’s care looks like.

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

The responsible individual has delegated significant responsibilities to a senior leader in the organisation. Therefore, the responsible individual is not frequently visiting the home to directly seek the views of the child or the interim manager. This undermines the responsible individual’s capacity to meet their statutory obligations.

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

Professionals, such as the child’s social worker and manager of the local CAMHS, said that they are encouraged by the immediate influence and impact that the interim manager has made. The interim manager has a workable plan to create a foundation that should improve the child’s quality of care. Furthermore, staff now have access to consistent support and guidance. Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 5

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 15 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 6 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)) 15 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(b)) 15 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44 (2)(a) 7(a)) 15 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide helps children to understand what the day-to-day routines of the home look like, in particular the boundaries around the use of each child’s mobile phone. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22) Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 7  The registered person should ensure that the Responsible Individual’s role is fulfilled as per regulation 2. In particular, visiting the home in order to better form an independent view of what the child’s care looks like. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 60, paragraph 12.3)

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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: 2712872 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingston upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2712872 9 regulates and inspects 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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