Children's Home run by Bright Futures North West Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2734267 1 Registered provider: Bright Futures North West 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home provides care for 2 children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection the home 2 children were living in the home. Both children were spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 20 January 2026

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2734267 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/01/2026 Full Good 02/07/2024 Full Good 16/01/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2734267 3

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Summary of findings

Children make positive progress from their individual starting points. Staff adopt a warm and caring approach with children. Staff support moves in and out of the home in a way that children understand and to ensure that children feel welcomed.

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Summary of findings

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs and risks. They understand how to respond to any significant events when they arise and are proactive in their approach to risks to ensure children are safe.

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Summary of findings

The manager is committed to the children in the home. However, the impact of his dual management role has meant that monitoring of the home has declined. He has identified the concerns prior to the inspection and is working to improve the monitoring and oversight of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves in and out of the home are well planned. Staff engage children in a child friendly way to ensure they feel reassured and involved in every stage of the move. The registered manager professionally challenges external professionals when plans have been inconsistent for children. Staff take their time to understand a child’s likes and dislikes before moving into the home, which supports children to feel welcomed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff and feel listened to. Staff regularly support the children in conversations which are important to them, but also to support their understanding of key topics individualised to their needs and risks. One child reported that she ‘loves the home and the staff are brilliant.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make positive progress in education. One child has made progress in attendance compared to their starting point and has recently sat their GCSE exams. When one child disengaged from school, staff supported the child to engage with education in the home setting. Staff show interest in the children’s future aspirations and have attended special events in the school setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate on behalf of children to ensure their wishes and feelings are shared with external professionals. This supports children’s wishes to engage in activities of their choice and contribute to their care plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm, welcoming and relaxed environment. In one child’s bedroom their pictures and artwork are displayed on the wall. Staff support the children to keep their rooms tidy. The children’s bedrooms each have an en-suite. Inspection report for children’s home: 2734267 4

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s individualised risks and needs. Staff are proactive in their response to any significant incidents that occur and access health advice and facilities when required.

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

Risk assessments are individualised to each of the children and are regularly reviewed and updated. In one risk assessment the incorrect name of the child was applied, which was remedied during the inspection.

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

There has been no missing from home incidents since the last inspection. One child’s record was updated during the inspection. This has not had a direct impact on the child and staff demonstrated competence in providing a response to any missing from home events that may occur, to ensure a safe return home for children.

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

There are effective processes in place to ensure that staff are safe to work with children. New members of staff are subject to strict and rigorous recruitment processes before they work in the home.

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

The home is managed by an experienced manager who is committed to the children and knows them well. The manager also manages another home within the same company. He has been transparent about the challenges he has faced in his dual management role over the past few months.

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

Team meetings do not take place regularly and those that have been completed do not contain clear actions with timescales. Records completed do reflect on the children’s needs and progress but there is a lack of learning and development identified for staff to review their ways of working.

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

The manager receives regular supervision, which reflects on practice and any issues within the home. However, staff do not receive supervision on a regular basis. Records completed are brief and do not consider any learning, development, or actions for staff to take.

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

The independent visits to the home are not always submitted to HMCI. The manager is in receipt of each monthly report and has worked with the independent visitor to ensure the issues are resolved. There has been an improvement since this time.

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

The home’s Statement of Purpose does set out the ethos of the home but does not provide information about professional supervision of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2734267 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, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Home 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

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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person is to ensure systems are in place to monitor the quality of care in the home and that 1 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2734267 6 oversight of records includes evaluation and that these are factually correct, reviewed and updated.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that opportunities are provided to staff through forums such as team meetings to explore and reflect on practice.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of this regulation, “the appropriate person” is the registered person, an officer of HMCI, an officer of the local authority in whose area the home is located or a police officer.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1) (3) (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure staff receive regular supervision which is practice related. 1 October 2026

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Recommendation

 Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements which is factually correct and shared with HMCI in a timely manner each month. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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 for children’s home: 2734267 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Futures North West Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 48 - 52 Penny Lane Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Merseyside L18 1DG

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Inspectors

Vicky Byron, Social Care Inspector Rose Maddocks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2734267 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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