Children's Home run by Solve Housing Limited in Sandwell

Inspection report children's home: 2679735 1 Registered provider: Solve Housing Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to 4 children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. They are registered to manage 2 homes. At the time of the inspection the registered manager was absent from work.

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Information about this children's home

2 children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. Both children spent time with the inspector and shared their views about their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2679735 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/08/2025 Full Good 14/01/2025 Full Good 19/06/2023 Full Good 06/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 2679735 3

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Summary of findings

Children are making slow progress from their starting points and staff do not supporting children to maintain healthy daily routines. Educational outcomes for children are mixed.

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Summary of findings

Children report that they feel safe and share positive relationships with staff. However, shortfalls in staff practice have compromised children's safety and wellbeing. In addition, some areas of the home require repair and are not well maintained, meaning children do not consistently live in a comfortable and homely environment.

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Summary of findings

Interim leadership arrangements are not effective. Internal and external monitoring systems require strengthening to ensure that shortfalls are identified promptly and that continuous improvements are made.

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in how children are helped and protected, together with weaknesses in leadership and management, hinder children's safety, experiences and progress.

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improvement to be good

Children are making slow progress from their individual starting points. However, despite efforts, staff have not yet been successful in effectively supporting one child to cease vaping and misusing substances. This poses a risk to the child’s health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not effectively support children to maintain healthy daily routines. A lack of structure does not promote healthy sleep patterns and limits children's ability to engage positively in all aspects of daily life. For example, staff to not provide children consistent boundaries, some children spend significant time their bedroom asleep during the day.

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improvement to be good

Children's educational progress is mixed. Despite efforts by staff to promote learning one child has been out of education for a long time. In contrast, another child enjoys home learning, and they are preparing to return to school after a long absence.

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improvement to be good

Children have been living at the home for some time, which provides them with stability and continuity of care. The children speak positively about the staff and the trusting relationships that they have developed with them over time.

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improvement to be good

There have been occasions when staff responses have not prevented or de-escalated conflict between children. On occasions when children have had disagreements, resulting in them breaking each other possessions or when one child harmed another child, staff Inspection report children's home: 2679735 4 have been ineffective in the management of conflict. These experiences negatively impact children's emotional well-being and sense of safety.

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improvement to be good

At times staff practice has fallen below expectations. Some incidents that have happened were preventable and there have been several occasions when staff have not followed children's plans. For example, on two separate occasions, lapses in staff practice meant a child’s medication was not safely managed. The child obtained this medication and informed staff that they had taken considerably more than the prescribed dose. This led to the child needing hospital treatment on both occasions to ensure their safety and wellbeing. The learning from the initial incident was not effectively shared with staff to ensure this did not happen again meaning staff did not keep the child safe from harm.

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improvement to be good

Aspects of the home environment are not well maintained. Damage to walls, doors and furnishings, and broken kitchen appliances, have not been repaired in a timely manner. For example, the fridge door has been dented for over one year. This does not provide children with a comfortable and homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to share their views and concerns, which are taken seriously. When a child raised a concern about a staff member, safeguarding procedures were followed, and the concern was referred to external professionals. The concern was investigated, and the outcome was shared with the child, helping them to understand the actions taken in response to their concerns.

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improvement to be good

Staff take appropriate action when children go missing from home. They work effectively with partner agencies to locate children and support their safe return. Staff demonstrate persistence in their efforts to locate children and use information gathered following incidents to review risks and inform ongoing safety planning.

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improvement to be good

Children report feeling safe in the home. Staff know the children well and they understand the children's individual needs and vulnerabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Interim leadership arrangements are weak. The registered manager is not currently at work due to a planned long-term absence. Two assistant managers are providing management oversight of the home with support from the operations manager. Leaders and managers have not applied to Ofsted for a new manager to be registered. As a result, Ofsted has not been able to determine the suitability of managers overseeing the day-to-day care and support children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Partnership working with people who are important to children is not always effective. One child’s family member showed a lack confidence in leaders and do not feel involved in decision making processes around their child's care plan. Leaders and managers plan to rebuild relationships and improve communication. Inspection report children's home: 2679735 5 Following incidents, learning is often identified for staff members. However, there is limited professional curiosity to identify wider themes and patterns. This limits the ability of leaders and managers to evaluate how the quality-of-care impacts children and to use this learning to promote continuous improvement. The operations manager shows a commitment to review the homes systems.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home's quality of care review does not include children's views and does not provide an accurate reflection of their experiences of living in the home. Furthermore, the independent person's monitoring and reports have not identified shortfalls, this is not in line expectations and regulatory requirements. This reduces the effectiveness of the home's review and monitoring arrangements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff who have worked at the home for more than 12 months receive an annual appraisal. However, these appraisals do not include feedback from colleagues or relevant professionals, limiting the ability of leaders to fully evaluate staff performance and identify any development needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not consistently notified Ofsted of serious incidents that have occurred within the home. This has reduced the regulator's ability to maintain effective oversight of children's welfare and ensure that staff practice is continually reviewed to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff feel listened to. Leaders and managers have supported staff with changes to their working patterns; this has meant staff can maintain a healthy work-life balance. They receive regular supervision, and team meetings provide opportunities for learning and development. Inspection report children's home: 2679735 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in the relation to the children’s home that —

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Requirement Due date

Helps children to 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 approaches and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the homes 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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff support children to establish and maintain healthy daily routines that promote their welfare and wellbeing.

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Requirement Due date

Children must also be provided with support that promotes positive outcomes in line with the home's statement of purpose. Monitoring systems must be effective, with effective oversight and analysis following significant incidents. The registered person should identify wider themes and patterns to inform 25 September 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2679735 7 learning and drive continuous improvement in the quality of care provided. 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

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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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 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; and that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff follow children’s plans to ensure children are safeguarded. In addition, the home environment must be well maintained, and action must be taken to repair damage and replace broken items without delay. 25 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standard, the registered person must, ensure that staff 25 September 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2679735 8 Seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range and needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation (5) (d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, positive relationships with children’s family members must be promoted.

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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 intent to be in, day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27 (1) (a)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must appoint a manager to oversee the care of children during the planned long-term absence of the registered manager and ensure that they submit their application to register with Ofsted without delay. 25 September 2026

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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

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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 25 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)) 25 September 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2679735 9 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)) 25 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, wherever possible, staff appraisals consider feedback from their colleagues and other professionals who have worked with the staff member, to provide a well-rounded assessment of their performance and practice. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2679735 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Solve Housing Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Azzurri House, Walsall Business Park, Aldridge, Walsall WS9 0RB

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Inspector

Amy Richards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2679735 11 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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