Children's Home run by T&J Victorious Ltd in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 1 Registered provider: T&J Victorious 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 owned by a private provider and cares for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was no registered manager at time of the inspection. The previous manager left in January 2026. The deputy manager had put in an application to register. However, they have handed in their resignation and are due to leave on 16 August 2026. Another manager has not yet been recruited.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of inspection, no children were living in the home.

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

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/06/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 3

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Summary of findings

Children have had poor experiences of safe and effective care because leaders and managers have not had sufficient oversight of the home. They have failed to take adequate action in response to safeguarding concerns. For one child with significant risks, staff and managers did not understand these risks. Steps were not taken to safeguard the child or sufficiently respond to concerns around substance misuse or possible gang associations. The management of allegations has not been adequate, resulting in staff working with children while pending investigation. Managers and senior leaders have taken steps to reduce risks to children. Staff have not had the knowledge, confidence or skills to adequately manage and respond to concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Two children have moved into the home and have subsequently moved out. For one child, the manager did not complete sufficient evidence gathering to understand whether the staff were sufficiently skilled to support the complex associated risks for the child. There was no clear rationale demonstrating how the home could meet the child’s needs, nor was there an assessment of the impact of the child’s admission to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

When children have moved out of the home, staff have not talked to them to inform them of the agreed plans, or to gather their views and feelings on the move. One child was not supported to visit their new home before moving, due to the manager not responding to communication from the social worker.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s views are not actively sought about their care. Staff have not regularly provided opportunities for children to express their views on the home or suggestions for improvement. As a result, children’s voices have not been heard and acted on during their time living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff talk with children about a variety of topics; however, these conversations do not focus on the children’s individual support needs. Children received no follow-up discussions after incidents of substance misuse, going missing from care, or gang involvement. Staff did not talk with one child about health and hygiene, despite internal plans recognising this as an area of concern. There were no agreed strategies or methods to track how regularly that child was showering and maintaining their hygiene. Staff were unsure if the child received regular support around personal hygiene needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The content of some discussions with children has not been appropriate. There are times where staff have been negative about children in conversations, saying things such as ‘they would not want to take you’ and ‘you will just get stuck here’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have not received regular praise, rewards or incentives during their time living at the home. Children’s positive behaviours have not been promoted or encouraged. Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 4 The environment is kept clean and has some homely decorations and activities for children. All the doors in the home are fire doors, which are regularly kept open with door wedges and would not close in the event of a fire. Staff were not aware of keeping fire doors closed and the impact of this should a fire occur.

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

Leaders and managers had not adequately responded to children’s allegations. There was a significant delay in reporting an allegation about the home’s manager to the local authority designated officer (LADO). No safety plan was put in place, despite this being requested from the LADO. This resulted in the manager continuing to work with the child while pending investigation. Staff have lacked professional curiosity when talking to the child, which would have supported the child to disclose the allegation sooner. Full information was not provided to the LADO regarding another concern about a staff member. This prevented clear oversight from external safeguarding professionals.

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

Staff have not actively looked for a child when they were missing from the home. They have not contacted any known connections or friends when the child is missing. Staff have not documented information that would be beneficial when searching for the child. The protocols lacked sufficient information about the child’s vulnerabilities, or locations the child may be found. The child had multiple incidents of going missing for several days. When the child has been found, there were occasions where they had been intoxicated, or had been involved with gang-related incidents and the police.

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

One child was reported to be regularly returning to the home ‘highly intoxicated’. There was insufficient documentation of incident records, health support or welfare monitoring to ensure the child received medical oversight and advise. The child was reported to have brought drugs and alcohol back to the home on several occasions. Records were insufficient to outline the actions the home took in response to this, or whether this was escalated sufficiently to the local authority and external professionals for additional support for the child.

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

Medication administration documents do not allow for sufficient scrutiny of staff practice. There has been a significant medication error, in which a child overdosed and did not receive health support until several hours later. The child required hospital attendance as a result. The following day, further tablets were found in the child’s bedroom. The manager was unaware of how these got there or how the child obtained them. The LADO advised the home to revise its medication administration processes; however, this action has not yet been taken. The manager is unable to identify whether other medication errors have occurred, because administration records omit essential information, such as who administered the medication.

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

Following this overdose incident, the child went to their parents’ house and refused to leave. Staff only completed one visual check on the child, but did not see a parent with the child. There was no safety plan in place despite concerns around the parents’ ability to safely care for the child and previous incidents of the child being found there Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 5 intoxicated and alone. Staff did not have communication with the child overnight or the following day until the child admitted themselves to hospital, after which staff went to support them. Insufficient safety planning put the child at significant risk of harm without appropriate safeguards in place.

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

Children’s risk assessments are outdated and do not reflect the risks that children face. They do not clearly outline proactive strategies to manage substance misuse, reduce gang involvement, or handle missing from care episodes. Staff have not felt confident in their responses to these concerns as a result.

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

Several significant events have not been shared with the regulator. This has significantly impacted the regulator’s ability to assess the risk to children and the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not have sufficient knowledge and experience to support children with some complex risks and has not been adequately supported in their role. This has resulted in significant shortfalls and a lack of action in response to concerns around safeguarding. The manager’s oversight of incidents and documents has not been meaningful. He has not identified patterns and trends or concerns around staff practice or outlined agreed strategies to attempt to change and improve the quality of care. However, staff do report feeling very supported by the manager in challenging situations and found him to be very present in the home and available when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual has not demonstrated that they have sufficient knowledge and experience to support the manager. They have not adequately supported the manager to have effective oversight of incidents and concerns. They have not regularly reviewed significant incident reports. As a result, they could not provide proper advice and guidance or ensure appropriate actions are taken.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A significant number of the staff team have left or are leaving their positions. Staff have not felt supported by the responsible individual and do not have any confidence in the company to support their roles. There are no staff currently coming through recruitment processes to replace them. The home currently does not have adequate staffing to support any children at the home. The manager is also leaving and a replacement for this role has not yet been secured.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff have meaningful training that is designed to support their understanding of children and their individual needs. Staff lack understanding of risks, such as exploitation and substance misuse, as well as how to respond when concerns arise. Staff reported not having enough training in physical intervention and behaviour management, though they described a self-defence course that they had completed. However, techniques demonstrated to the inspector could place children at risk of harm. As a result, staff lack confidence in managing and de-escalating challenging behaviour. Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 6 There have been several concerns around staff performance and behaviours within the home. Some staff practice within the home has been inappropriate and could expose children to risk of harm. Both staff and children have raised these concerns. There has

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

been minimal response to these concerns, or any learning taken to develop staff practice. As a result, staff have not always demonstrated suitable practice aligned with their job descriptions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A significant event occurred in which a local neighbour allegedly threw a brick through the manager’s car window in response to parking concerns. Staff shared that this is thought to be racially motivated. This event has not been included in the home’s location risk assessment, which has not been updated in line with the annual review. Leaders and managers have failed to take action to improve relationships with their neighbours, and this could have a negative impact on any child coming to live at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A suspension notice has been implemented to prevent any children from moving into the home as the home does not currently have a manager or sufficient staff to provide safe and effective care to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 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— that staff—

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the responsible individual ensuring that managers and staff have the skills and confidence to 6 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 8 recognise and act on any allegations or complaints in a timely manner, sharing information with relevant professionals.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that managers and staff have the skills and confidence to manage and respond to missing-from- care incidents and substance misuse incidents, to recognise signs of exploitation and to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk to children.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that risk assessments for children are up to date, accurate and reflect the presenting risks and the proactive steps that staff will take to respond and safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring accurate recording of incidents in incident reports to support effective oversight.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to making sure fire doors are not propped open, which ensures compliance with fire regulations.

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for 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 6 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 9 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)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that there is a manager in place with appropriate experience to lead and manage the home.

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Requirement Due date

This also particularly refers to ensuring there is sufficient staffing in place to care for children.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring staff are trained, with meaningful and appropriate training to meet children’s needs and known risks.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that the manager has sufficient oversight of the home in order to recognise patterns and trends, and takes action to respond to situations and risks, which ensures children are safeguarded. Also, this refers to ensuring that oversight is effective in improving the quality of care for children.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that sufficient steps are taken when there are concerns around staff practice, to ensure staff are fulfilling their responsibilities.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; 6 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 10 protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult; (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers staff to have non-stigmatising conversations with children. These should be around areas of known need and support, particularly to support children to understand risks and vulnerabilities, as well as supporting them with health and hygiene.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that staff promote and support children’s welfare and sense of self by using praise, rewards or incentives to encourage positive behaviours.

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare; 6 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 11 help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; and

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that children’s views on their care are actively sought, documented and acted on in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that children receive a timely response to any complaints they have made about their care.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child.

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the responsible person ensuring that there is a medication administration recording system that documents who gave the medication, the time, the dosage and the remaining balance. The manager must also oversee and review this system to track any medication errors. 6 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

a responsible individual must – 6 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 12 satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (1) (5)(a)(b) (7)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that the responsible individual has the skills and knowledge to oversee the home, keep children safe, and take action when statutory requirements are not met.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to the responsible individual providing suitable support and supervision of the manager, to ensure they are fulfilling their responsibilities.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to the responsible individual having full and satisfactory schedule 2 checks available within the home.

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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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all incidents involving LADO referrals, police involvement, and other significant events are reported to Ofsted without delay. 6 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking 6 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 13 into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that the location risk assessment is updated every year and includes relevant, significant information from the local area particularly where there are incidents with local neighbours.

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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: 2791323 14

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Inspector

Becki Cornes-Sinclair, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2791323 15 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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