Children's Home run by Almoner Care Group Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 1 Registered provider: Almoner Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this visit, one child was living at the home. The child spoke with inspectors during the visit.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 30 September 2025

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At the assurance inspection on 10 March 2026, Ofsted identified serious and widespread failures impacting on children’s care and welfare. Three compliance notices were issued under Regulations 13, 32 and 45. A subsequent monitoring visit on 15 May 2026 found insufficient progress had been made. Inspectors determined that the compliance notices had not been met, demonstrating ongoing regulatory breaches and continued weaknesses in leadership, oversight and monitoring arrangements within the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/09/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/06/2025 Full Inadequate 14/01/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/09/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 3

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Summary of findings

The child’s progress is affected by significant weaknesses in leadership, management and safeguarding practice. Leaders have not demonstrated sufficient understanding of safeguarding responsibilities. They have failed to follow procedures and did not properly investigate concerns about staff conduct. They also failed to share information with relevant agencies, increasing risk to the child.

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Summary of findings

The home has operated without a registered manager since November 2025, resulting in ineffective oversight and monitoring. The responsible individual has not demonstrated the skills or capacity required to oversee the home effectively. Despite committed and nurturing staff, persistent shortfalls in practice, quality assurance and recruitment continue. Leaders have failed to address concerns despite regulatory intervention.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child’s safety has been compromised by significant weaknesses in leadership, management and safeguarding practice. When risks have been identified, leaders have failed to take effective and timely action to protect the child and ensure that their welfare and experiences are prioritised. These failures have resulted in inadequate safeguarding arrangements and insufficient oversight of the child’s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite these shortcomings, the child has made progress. However, this progress is attributable to the child’s own resilience, determination and strength of character, rather than a consistent level of care provided. Although the child has demonstrated perseverance in challenging circumstances, the home has not consistently provided the safe, nurturing and protective environment necessary to promote positive outcomes. As a result, both safeguarding and leadership arrangements are judged to be inadequate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child spoke with inspectors and expressed positive views about living in the home, saying they were happy there. Inspectors observed warm, nurturing relationships between staff and the child, including appropriate physical affection, positive interactions and shared laughter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child said they can talk to some staff and gave examples of receiving support and reassurance when needed. The child did say that there were also inconsistencies in the staff team that left them sometimes feeling frustrated and angry with expectations being unclear. Despite wider concerns about leadership, management and safeguarding, most staff demonstrated warmth, commitment and care, providing the child with some stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Most staff promote family time and ensure that the child maintains meaningful relationships with people who are important to them. They take practical steps to Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 4 facilitate these arrangements, including funding accommodation for family members who live some distance from the home. This helps the child maintain important family connections and promotes a positive sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Most staff support the child’s independence by undertaking direct work that helps them to develop essential life skills and confidence in managing day-to-day activities. These activities include spending time in the community and navigating friendships with peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Most professionals spoke positively about the child’s progress and described staff as supportive. However, leaders do not keep professionals informed of management changes and failed to consistently share accurate safeguarding information. This hindered effective multi-agency working and raised concerns about communication, oversight and leadership effectiveness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Although the child’s bedroom is well maintained, personalised and reflective of their interests, leaders have not ensured that the wider home is maintained to an acceptable standard. Several communal areas show signs of wear and neglect and require redecoration, cleaning and repair. Leaders have not addressed the need to remove debris from the garden or complete routine maintenance tasks throughout the home. These shortfalls detract from the overall living environment.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Safeguarding practice has not improved since the last visit and continues to be a concern. Leaders have failed to follow safeguarding procedures when concerns and allegations have arisen, resulting in serious weaknesses in the home’s safeguarding arrangements. Leaders did not promptly share significant safeguarding information with the local authority designated officer or the child’s social worker, preventing relevant professionals from assessing risk and determining whether the child may have experienced harm. These failures placed the child at potential risk and demonstrate ineffective safeguarding oversight and management.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Records highlight significant weaknesses in safeguarding oversight and decision-making. Leaders do not consistently investigate safeguarding concerns thoroughly or demonstrate sufficient professional curiosity, despite staff raising concerns about safeguarding practice. Consequently, leaders have not always understood the child’s experiences or identified when further safeguarding action was necessary.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Leaders failed to take prompt action when concerns about staff conduct arose. For example, a staff member continued to work with a child despite allegations that they had used derogatory language towards the child and left the home overnight without authorisation. This left the child in the care of a single staff member, contrary to their care plan and agreed staffing arrangements, and increased safeguarding risks.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Leaders have not ensured that all known risks are reflected in the child’s plans and risk assessments. Although concerns regarding bullying and unsafe internet use have been Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 5 identified, records do not clearly set out how staff should respond to or manage these risks. This lack of guidance limits staff’s ability to provide consistent care and effectively safeguard the child.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

The recruitment of staff remains an area of concern and leaders have not clearly defined staff roles and responsibilities. Recruitment records also lack required checks, meaning leaders cannot demonstrate that all staff are suitably vetted and safe to work with children. This increases the risk of children being cared for by individuals who have not been appropriately assessed.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Visitors to the home do not consistently sign the visitors’ log. As a result, leaders cannot clearly evidence who has visited the home, their role, or the nature of their involvement with the child. This weakens oversight and accountability and limits leaders’ ability to monitor who has spent time with the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management arrangements are poor. There is currently no registered manager in post, and despite the strong efforts of deputy managers to support staff, leaders have not established sufficient monitoring systems to ensure safe and consistent practice. Staff have raised concerns regarding inconsistency in practice during team meetings and supervision. However, leaders have not taken effective action to address these concerns or improve standards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Professionals involved with the child reported that information is not always shared accurately or in full. This prevents partner agencies from obtaining a complete picture of risks and experiences of the child and does not support multi-agency decision making or effective safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff and professionals were unclear about the roles and responsibilities of all individuals involved in the child’s care. One person, described as the home’s ‘maintenance person’, was undertaking direct work with the child and providing on-call management support. However, this was not reflected in staff rotas or records. Leaders could not clearly demonstrate who was responsible for specific aspects of the child’s care, and it was unclear which tasks had been delegated to others and whether these had been completed. This lack of clarity and oversight undermines accountability and creates uncertainty about how the child’s needs and safeguarding requirements are being met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings do not effectively support safeguarding practice. Leaders do not clearly identify actions, set timescales or monitor progress. As a result, safeguarding concerns, practice issues and learning opportunities are not consistently addressed. Meetings lack a clear focus on the child’s experiences, welfare and progress, limiting reflective practice and reducing opportunities to improve outcomes for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite the serious and widespread weaknesses, it was evident that the deputy managers and some staff were committed to supporting the child and ensuring they had Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 6 positive experiences. They demonstrated a good understanding of the child’s needs and worked hard to provide consistent care and support. However, they had raised concerns with leaders about the lack of effective structure within the home and inconsistencies in staff practice. Leaders did not take sufficient action to address these concerns. As a result, the plans and routines put in place by deputy managers were undermined, reducing their effectiveness and hindering efforts to provide the child with consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Previous requirements relating to safeguarding and leadership and oversight remain unmet and therefore have been restated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 7

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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 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) 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—

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders must ensure that they and staff act in accordance with the home’s policies when considering risk to children and actions taken to safeguard them. In addition, children’s documents should contain all known risks and include strategies that staff must take to minimise the risk to children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 8 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 8 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(a)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 8 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 8 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 9 ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)) 8 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all matters listed in schedule 2 are recorded and gaps in employment are fully documented and explored. 8 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 10 This requirement is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 8 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders must ensure that the statement of purpose includes the matters listed in schedule 1, specifically the leadership and staffing structure of the home, including staff skills and experience. 8 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders must ensure that staff rotas contain all relevant information, as listed in schedule 4. 8 September 2026

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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: 2746850 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Almoner Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seymour Chambers, 92 London Road, Liverpool, Merseyside L3 5NW

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Inspectors

Nicola Rutherford, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Michelle Edge, Senior His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2746850 12 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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