Children's Home run by Detail Personnel Care Ltd in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children's home: 2688405 1 Registered provider: Detail Personnel Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider and provides care for up to 3 children who may experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and Ofsted are currently checking this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager actively in post since February 2026. The deputy manager has covered this role since February.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: 20 January 2026

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2688405 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/01/2026 Full Good 04/03/2025 Full Good 27/02/2024 Full Good 28/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2688405 3

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Summary of findings

Care is provided by staff who know the child well and have developed positive and trusting relationships with them. Effective support has contributed to progress, particularly in education, while advocacy, support for family relationships and attention to health and wellbeing promote positive experiences for the child. Safeguarding practice is effective, with staff understanding risks and responding appropriately to incidents and concerns. Further development is needed to ensure that opportunities for the child to develop independence are clearly planned and progressed. Staff feel well supported despite recent changes in leadership, however there is no registered manager currently in post and the new responsible individual is not yet assessed as being suitable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have developed positive and trusting relationships with the child, who expresses feeling comfortable sharing their views. They feel listened to and know how to make a complaint if needed. Staff demonstrate compassion and curiosity about the child’s experiences, including following incidents. This helps the child to feel safe and comfortable, with adults who understand and respond to their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide effective support for the child’s education and advocate for them when needed. This has contributed to a significant improvement in school attendance. The child now enjoys attending school and has aspirations for their future, including attending college and gaining employment. Staff have challenged the school on behalf of the child when needed, helping the child to feel their experiences are valued and know that staff will advocate for their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the child’s health and support them to attend routine appointments. Meaningful discussion and educational work helps the child to become increasingly informed about their health and how to access appropriate resources and support. When additional assessments have been identified as necessary, staff and managers have pursued alternative routes to try and progress these swiftly, sharing relevant information with health colleagues to assist this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family relationships are valued and actively supported. Staff work creatively to enable family time and welcome family members to the home for important occasions such as birthday celebrations. Regular updates and photographs are shared with family members, who speak positively about the care provided to the child. This enables the child to maintain important relationships and experience their family being included in their day to day lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Arrangements to support the child to develop greater independence are not yet robustly planned or progressing. A higher level of staffing ratio has remained largely unchanged and opportunities to progress this have not been consistently implemented or clearly Inspection report children's home: 2688405 4 defined. The current arrangement for the child to spend time independently in the community has remained restricted and unchanged. The child has expressed frustration about the pace of progress and perceives the current arrangements as demonstrating a lack of trust in their abilities. These arrangements limit opportunities for them to develop their confidence and practical skills in preparation for adulthood. Leaders and managers are now challenging current arrangements and there is some evidence of attempts to progress this.

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

Staff understand the child’s individual risks and vulnerabilities and take appropriate action to keep them safe. Risk assessments and safety plans provide staff with relevant information and are reviewed when circumstances change. Staff know how to respond should concerns arise. This supports a consistent approach to safeguarding and helps to reduce the risk of harm to the child.

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

Staff respond appropriately when the child is missing from home. This includes following the protocol agreed with the Local Authority, continuing efforts to search for the child and liaising with relevant professionals, which has helped to locate the child. When the child returns staff provide reassurance and support and enable the child to feel able to talk about their experiences whilst away from the home. Managers review incidents and any following work with the child to identify any learning. This helps staff understand the reasons the child has been missing and to respond to any emerging risks.

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

Safeguarding concerns and allegations are taken seriously. Investigations reach clear outcomes and learning is identified even when concerns are not found to be substantiated. Decisive action is taken when practice within the home has fallen below expectations. This demonstrates to the child that concerns are listened and responded to and helps them have trust and confidence in the adults caring for them.

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

Staff are alert to risks associated with the child’s use of technology. Checks are undertaken in line with risk assessments and records demonstrate what has been reviewed and any concerns identified. This takes place alongside educational work with the child to develop their understanding of online safety. Consequently, safeguarding measures are balanced with opportunities for the child to develop the knowledge and skills to keep themselves safe online in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been changes in management arrangements within the home. Despite this, staff do not feel this has had a significant impact for them or the child and describe the acting manager as providing steady guidance and maintaining a clear focus on the quality of care provided to the child. Staff say that they maintain boundaries so the child understands what is expected of them and that they maintain high expectations of staff practice. Inspection report children's home: 2688405 5 Management oversight is evidenced throughout records. Managers seek to understand how and why incidents have occurred and consider the child’s experiences and needs. Although oversight is generally child focussed, more evaluative review of how staff have responded would strengthen the managers ability to identify learning. The acting manager and responsible individual have responded promptly when there are concerns regarding staff practice. Appropriate safeguarding action has been taken including

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

suspension, investigation and referral to relevant professionals. This ensures the child is protected from harm whilst concerns are explored further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision and team meetings which provide opportunities to discuss wellbeing, practice and areas for development. They understand whistleblowing procedures and express confidence to acknowledge mistakes and raise concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is up to date and is relevant to children’s needs, helping staff to be better equipped to understand and respond to children’s individual needs, leading to more consistent and effective care. Leaders and managers have decided to utilise a different model of therapeutic care and intervention, prompted by an evaluation of the effectiveness of the previous one and all staff have now received training in the new model. The effectiveness of this is not yet tested although staff have expressed positive feedback about the training they have received.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has not been a registered manager active in post due to the circumstances of the previous manager’s absence delaying recruitment. A new manager has now been recruited with a start date agreed. There is a new responsible individual in post who has not yet been assessed as suitable, however they are providing increased oversight and have begun to introduce more comprehensive monitoring arrangements. Although these arrangements are not yet fully embedded or tested there is a clear direction for the home. Inspection report children's home: 2688405 6

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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, 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 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; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge 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. (27)(1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b)) 9 November 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all use of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. These include: treating each child with understanding, dignity, kindness and respect; building, protecting and preserving positive relationships between each child and the adults caring for them; understanding each child’s behaviour to allow their needs, aspirations, experiences and strengths to be recognised and their quality of life to be enhanced; involving children and relevant others wherever practical in behaviour management; supporting each child to balance safety from injury (harm) with making appropriate choices; Inspection report children's home: 2688405 7 making sure the child’s rights are upheld. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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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 children's home: 2688405 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Detail Personnel Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 32, 18 High Street, High Wycombe, Hertfordshire HP11 2BE

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Inspector

Terrianne George, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2688405 9 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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