Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 1 Registered provider: Lancashire County 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 and provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in January 2026.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 2

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Summary of findings

The core staff team builds positive relationships with children, spending time getting to know them. Staff and managers collaborate effectively with external agencies. Improved staff knowledge and skills have successfully reduced incidents at the home through positive de-escalation. However, there are shortfalls in management oversight. Staff lack sufficient guidance on recording, reporting and managing missing from home incidents. Furthermore, there are currently no strategies in place to ensure that children are being kept safe online, despite known risks in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child who has lived at the home for several months has developed positive relationships with staff. The child said that they enjoy living at the home and they have personalised their bedroom which gives them a sense of belonging and ownership. The other child living at the home has only been there for a few weeks and is starting to build relationships with the staff. Staff interact with both children in a warm, genuine and relaxed way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported one child to become more settled following a difficult period after moving into the home. They are now developing a sense of belonging to the home and making good progress with support from staff. The child has positive aspirations for their future and staff are supporting them to explore further education and employment options. This is helping the child feel valued and actively invest in their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences including days out and holidays. One child is looking forward to going on holiday abroad to celebrate their birthday. This helps children build new memories, strengthen relationships with staff and help them to feel valued and included.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When planning for children to move in, leaders and managers ensure that they obtain the necessary information to determine whether they can meet the child’s needs and keep them safe. They work closely with the child's wider support system, including family. This helps the child feel secure and make the transition smoother.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals say that they are happy with the care and support children receive. Staff work effectively with external agencies, ensuring that they are kept up to date and regularly consulted with. Staff liaise with relevant professionals for advice and guidance and seek additional support for children when required. This collaborative approach ensures that children have access to a broad and well-supported system of support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support one child to maintain appropriate daily routines which support their health and wellbeing. However, another child is awake throughout the night. Although routines are starting to improve for this child, they are not yet consistent. Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 3 The home is generally well maintained. One child’s bedroom is personalised and homely. However, another child’s bedroom is not personalised and there is significant damage that requires maintenance.

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

Incidents involving children are beginning to reduce. This improvement is linked to staff developing their knowledge and skills and using effective de-escalation strategies to better support children. Furthermore, staff are helping children to understand their risks and behaviour so that they learn safer ways to respond.

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

Children's risk management plans and safety plans are relevant and detailed. They provide clear steps for staff to follow to keep children safe. Documents are updated regularly in line with developing knowledge of children’s needs and behaviours.

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

Staff receive training which is relevant to the children’s needs. This means that children are cared for by staff with the necessary skills and experience to keep them safe.

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

Children are supported to maintain key relationships. Their wishes and feelings relating to seeing important people are listened to and acted upon. This is helping reduce the number of missing from home incidents.

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

Staff know what to do when children are missing from the home. However, there are gaps in information in some records which makes it difficult to ascertain a clear picture of what happened, including if staff followed the children’s plans.

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

Despite phone use and online safety being a known risk, there are no strategies in place to keep children safe. Leaders and managers took action to address this during the inspection.

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

The home is managed by a registered manager and two deputy managers. The managers are committed to the children and want to achieve the best outcomes for them. However, the registered manager is not always visible at the home due to them often working at another location. This reduces their oversight at the home.

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

Leaders and managers do not always identify repeated shortfalls in recording and reporting when children go missing from home. This means it is unclear whether these incidents have been managed appropriately. This also limits opportunities for staff learning and development.

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

Other records are inaccurate and inconsistent, including rotas and daily logbooks. This means that it is difficult to clearly identify who is working at the home and caring for children. Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 4 Children are cared for by different adults. Inconsistency in managers and staff has led to children being regularly supported by staff who do not usually work at the home. This is unsettling and creates a sense of instability for the children.

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

When supervisions and team meetings take place, they are of good quality. However, supervision does not take place consistently. On one occasion, a team meeting was cancelled due to an incident at the home. Leaders and managers did not rearrange the meeting despite challenges at the home. This meant that they did not provide the level of support needed to ensure that children and staff were appropriately supported during this time.

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

The home’s statement of purpose is out of date and does not reflect current staffing arrangements.

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

On one occasion, a new staff member was not provided the opportunity to participate in a fire drill. This impacts upon their ability to respond safely and support children during an emergency.

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

Leaders and managers support an independent person to visit the home each month. However, the reports are not submitted to Ofsted in a timely manner which limits regulatory oversight. Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 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, 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 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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

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)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there is effective oversight across all aspects of the home. They must ensure that any shortfalls in staff practice or recording and reporting are identified and addressed.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that children are cared for by a consistent staff team. 9 October 2026 Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 6 In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff are supported with regular supervision and team meetings.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that the independent person’s report is submitted to Ofsted in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that the home’s Statement of Purpose accurately reflects current staffing arrangements.

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff take effective action when children go missing from the home. They must ensure that records relating to missing incidents are accurate and complete.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that there are effective strategies in place to ensure that children are kept safe, particularly in relation to online safety and mobile phone use. 9 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— 9 October 2026 Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 7 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children’s records are accurate, comprehensive, and contain full details.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home children live in is a homely, domestic environment which is well maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are supported to express themselves as individuals and given an appropriate degree of freedom and choice in relation to day-to-day arrangements for their care. Where a child’s preferences are not appropriate, such as maintaining poor routines, staff should discuss this with the child to help them understand why and take steps to support the child to develop healthy daily routines. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.21)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff are aware of and understand the fire evacuation procedure as all children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2863946 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lancashire County Council, PO Box 100, Preston PR1 0LD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claire Rose-Dudley

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Inspector

Danielle Allen, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2863946 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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