MovingUp Care South

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 1 MovingUp Care South Registered provider: Moving Up Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

The service is owned and managed by a private provider. The service provides 8 single-occupancy accommodation and 7 shared group living premises.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, the service was providing support and accommodation to 15 children who are 16 and 17 looked-after children and care leavers in 15 shared premises.

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provider

The service manager has an application to register with Ofsted.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 24 August 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site on 26 and 27 August 2026.

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Outcome

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings. The next inspection will be in approximately 6 months.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers admit children into the service who are not ready for supported accommodation. Staff offer poor levels of care and safety to children with complex needs and vulnerabilities. As a result, children have been at risk of harm.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not have the skills and experience to effectively perform their roles. They have limited knowledge of child protection procedures. Staff do not recognise their responsibilities in keeping children safe.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not consult with children about their support plans or include their views, wishes and feelings. Children do not know what is written about them. This disempowers children and does not motivate them to develop independence skills. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers admit children who are not ready to learn the skills needed for independence. Children move into the service who are extremely vulnerable, with complex needs and risks including physical aggression, sexual offences towards children and possession of weapons. Leaders and managers fail to keep vulnerable children safe in supported accommodation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s experiences are varied. Some children are positive about their support and accommodation. Leaders and managers do not regularly obtain children’s views. On the rare occasions views are sought these are not used to improve the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers place children in shared housing without fully considering the needs of other children living there. For example, one child moved into shared premises and was negatively influenced by the resident child. Risks to both children have increased in substance misuse, criminality and exploitation. Staff are unable to meet children’s individual needs which limits their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff do not consult with children about their plans, or the support they are offered. Senior staff record how they will help children and establish goals for independence. Staff use language which blames the child if they do not want to work with the plan. Some children have not seen their plans or records. This limits children’s engagement and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children are not in education, employment or training. Leaders and managers are aware that children may have had poor experiences of formal education. However, staff are not aspirational for children’s achievements if they are not already in education. Staff do not work with children to motivate them to start college or find work. This is a missed opportunity for children and decreases their chances in life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children live in well-presented accommodation. Staff do not give children any responsibility for the cleanliness and maintenance of communal areas. This prevents children learning skills to keep their home safe and in good repair.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not ensure that children receive enough support to stay safe and make progress. Some children’s needs increase while living in the accommodation. For example, one child experienced a prolonged period of low mood, aggression and violence towards staff. When children are not safe in their homes, leaders and managers delay decision making to find an alternative plan for them.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers fail to recognise or safely manage risks. For example, a child with known sexually harmful behaviour had admitted a younger child into his Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 3 bedroom without staff knowledge. Leaders and managers did not increase staff supervision leading to risk of serious harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff complete mandatory safeguarding training. However, this does not give staff the skills to keep children safe. Staff responses to children misusing substances and risks of exploitation are inconsistent and ineffective in harm prevention. Staff have poor knowledge of child protection procedures.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers have promoted staff to provide emergency on call arrangements. Staff in these senior positions do not have any additional training to give direction about what to do in a crisis. This leads to poor or delayed decision making. For example, staff did not call the police and social workers when a child was a victim of a serious assault. The child was at further risk of harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

Risk assessments completed by staff do not consistently include factors which can keep children safe. Staff offer learning sessions to educate children about vulnerabilities to lower their risks. However, children rarely engage in learning, so this is meaningless in planning their safety.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff do not manage children’s behaviour well. On one occasion, a member of staff locked themselves in a bathroom when they were threatened by a child. The member of staff then left the premises, leaving children without supervision overnight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and manager

Leaders and managers do not act in children’s best interests. They admit children who cannot be kept safe in supported accommodation. They are operating outside of their statement of purpose and conditions of registration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and manager

Leaders and managers lack understanding of the supported accommodation regulations. They are unable to identify the shortfalls of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and manager

Leaders and managers do not consistently work with children’s social workers. One social worker commented on the good communication of staff. However, another expressed frustration that staff would not change the way they worked with a child to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and manager

When children need more care, leaders and managers do not advocate that their needs can no longer be met in the service. The service manager has weekly planning meetings, often concluding with few agreed actions and little change to children’s plans. Some children have been given notice to leave after a prolonged period of lack of progress. Leaders do not consider additional factors to keep the child safe in the notice period. This places children at increased and unnecessary risk of harm. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 4 Leaders and managers do not have sufficient oversight of the service. They lack awareness of serious incidents, how they are managed and whether they are reported to safeguarding partners.

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The effectiveness of leaders and manager

Supervision sessions do not reassure leaders and managers that staff have the skills to work with children. Supervision meetings are delivered by staff who have no experience of managing staff or working together to safeguard children. Leaders and manages do not effectively challenge poor practice. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including 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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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 supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the supported accommodation undertaking has sufficient staff to support and accommodate children safely and effectively;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the skills necessary to support children to identify, access and receive their entitlements in a way that helps them to learn to identify, access and receive their entitlements independently in the future. (Regulation 4 (1) (2) (a)(c)(d)(f)(i)) 18 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

*The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met. 18 October 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

are enabled to keep themselves safe; have their individual needs met;

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Requirement Due date

have 24-hour access to help in a crisis or emergency situation;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar and act in accordance with child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or any other harm, and act to reduce such risk;

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Requirement Due date

work collaboratively with children to help them understand how to keep safe, by offering guidance and support on how to minimise any potential risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies, and share information where relevant to keep children safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the relevant roles and responsibilities assigned to them by the registered person in relation to protecting children. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(f)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)) *The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any 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 or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the supported accommodation undertaking or a person working for it;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry— 18 October 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 7 is instigated, or

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry);

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Requirement Due date

there is an incident involving the use of a measure of restraint of a child;

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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 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f)) The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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

ensure that children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

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Requirement Due date

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Requirement Due date

in the event that the registered person or a member of staff considers that an accommodating authority or a relevant person is failing to provide the support set out in a child’s relevant plans, make representations, or, as the case may be, enable staff to make representations, to the accommodating authority or relevant person with a view to ensuring that the child’s needs are met;

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Requirement Due date

ensure a plan for support is in place to support the child to develop the resilience and skills required to transition out of supported accommodation when the child is ready to live more independently;

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Requirement Due date

ensure a plan for support is in place to support the child to develop the resilience and skills required to transition out of supported accommodation when the child is ready to live more independently; 18 October 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 8 ensure that an adequate level of support is available to the child to assist with the transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that children are supported to access education, training or employment;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that children are supported to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(c)(d)(f)(h)(k)(l)(m)(n)) *These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Moving Up Care Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Kelly Charles-Chambers

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: enquiries@movingupcare.com

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Inspectors

Sue Garner, Social Care Inspector Beth Forster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: MovingUp Care South 10 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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