LCT Care Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 1 LCT Care Ltd Registered provider: LCT Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a private provider.

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provider

The service can accommodate up to 9 children in 3 shared or group-living homes which are limited to accommodating looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, the service was providing supported accommodation for 6 children.

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provider

The provider and the service manager registered with Ofsted in October 2024.

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Inspection dates: 24 to 27 August 2026

The inspection was announced on 24 August 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site on 26 and 27 August 2026.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 3 years.

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Summary of findings

Children have positive experiences and appreciate the support that they receive from staff.

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Summary of findings

Staff ensure that children’s safety is a priority. Staff are trained to identify risks that could impact negatively on children. When risks to children occur, staff work closely with other professionals to help keep children safe.

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Summary of findings

Trusting relationships between children and staff underpin effective safeguarding. Staff work proactively with other professionals to safeguard children and to promote their positive outcomes. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 2 The provider has not notified the regulator of serious incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children say they like where they live and are safe. One child said, ‘I like it here, I receive more support from staff than my former place.’ Another child said, ‘I am happy here and safe.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children feel valued. Staff promote trusted relationships, which helps children to settle into where they live. Staff are creative and curious in finding ways to engage meaningfully with children. Individual sessions occur in different ways that best suit the individual child. This helps staff to gain each child’s confidence and understand what is important for the child. For example, staff sometimes play board games with children to encourage them to talk, have fun and interact.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff provide an environment that is safe and nurturing for children, and as a result, they share mutually respectful relationships. One professional said, ‘One of the qualities I most admire about LCT Care is their unwavering commitment to each young person placed with them. They consistently go above and beyond to provide a nurturing, supportive, and stable environment that enables young people to thrive.’ This approach to offering support enables children to feel valued and builds a sense of belonging and feelings of security.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff understand the importance of children maintaining relationships with their family and friends and so actively promote and encourage these connections. Staff make the effort to get to know people who are important to the children. One child commented on how well staff are supporting them to rebuild their relationship with their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff monitor children’s progress and share information with local authorities appropriately. Monthly progress reports are produced with children, and this ensures their voice is heard. One child wrote, ‘I am pleased with the progress I have made during this period. I have become more independent with cleaning, personal care, and food shopping. I now have a clearer goal for my future. I recognise that I still have areas to improve, and I am willing to continue working on these areas.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff ensure that they are proactively working with other professionals to promote children’s positive outcomes and to address any barriers that may hinder progress. For example, managers are liaising with a virtual school to explore an apprenticeship opportunity for a child who does not want to further their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers provide children with support in accessing a range of social amenities in the immediate community. When children move in, staff introduce them to the local services, such as the doctors’ surgery, the dentist, the optician, the gym, places of worship, the library, local shops and transport services. Staff encourage the children to explore the area and to participate in activities to enhance their connection to the local area, such as going to the park and to cinemas. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 3 Managers and staff ensure that children feel welcomed and comfortable in their homes. The premises are spacious and maintained well. However, children’s privacy has not always been respected, as there have been instances when CCTV cameras located in the communal areas have included sound.

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How well children are helped and protected

Managers and staff know the children well and communicate well with them to identify their current needs and what works best for them. Children feel safe and supported in their homes. They learn about making better choices for themselves, for example when keeping safe in the community.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff and managers safeguard children well. Staff complete essential safeguarding training as part of their induction so that they can identify potential risks to children’s safety. They work closely with partner agencies to help keep children safe and to make sure that children have access to all the services and support that they need.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff respond appropriately and effectively when children go missing from home. They follow the correct procedures and treat all unexplained absences as children being missing from home. These incidents are reported promptly and transparently to other agencies in line with safeguarding protocols. Staff explore the underlying reasons for going missing in one-to-one sessions with children, helping to reduce future risk.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff set clear and consistent boundaries that contribute to children feeling safe. Professionals say that staff develop good relationships with children and understand how best to communicate with them according to their needs, particularly at times when they experience anxiety, become unsettled or find it difficult to express what they want.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers practise safer recruitment. However, they have not consistently undertaken overseas police checks for some staff who previously worked abroad. This weakens the overall approach to ensuring every individual is suitable to work with vulnerable children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Serious incidents are rare. Staff manage safeguarding concerns well and report them in a timely manner to children’s social workers. However, leaders and managers have failed to notify Ofsted of some serious incidents involving the police. This oversight prevents Ofsted from being assured that the provider has responded to these situations quickly and effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The nominated individual and registered service manager are the same person. They are a visible leader, visiting each of the premises regularly, resulting in effective oversight of the service. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 4 Leaders and managers provide an on-call service where staff can access support and guidance at any time. This ensures that staff have good support when dealing with issues as they arise. Feedback from staff about their leaders is overwhelmingly positive. One member of staff said, ‘The managers are very supportive and are committed to teaching, coaching and developing staff.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are aspirational for the service and ambitious for children. Their motivation and positive outlook result in children being aspirational for themselves. Children’s current interests and future career goals are fully encouraged by managers and staff alike.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff receive regular and practice-focused supervision sessions that consider and prioritise children’s needs. Supervision sessions are also an effective space in which to constructively challenge staff and support their professional development. Two support workers have been promoted to home manager roles. One member of staff said, ‘Progressing from a support worker to a manager within the organisation is something I am proud of, and I look forward to continuing to build on my experience and contribute positively to the company and the staff team.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Every new member of staff benefits from an effective induction plan, which includes extensive training and shadow shifts before lone working in the homes. As a result, staff have a comprehensive understanding of the support needs of children. A newly appointed member of staff acknowledged that the company prioritises staff training, which they described as essential in ensuring that staff have the knowledge, skills and confidence to provide a high standard of support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Managers seek feedback from children through house meetings, one-to-one discussions and quarterly feedback forms. This means they are up to date with what is happening for each of the children. However, they have failed to submit the 6- monthly quality of support reviews, which hinders the regulator’s oversight of the service. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 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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Requirements Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirements 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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Requirements 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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Requirements Due date

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

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Requirements Due date

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

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Requirements Due date

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

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Requirements 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)) 26 August 2026

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Requirements Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review (“a quality of support review”) at least once every six months, which must take into account— 30 November Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 6 the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirements Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirements Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;

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Requirements Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met.

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Requirements Due date

After completing a quality of support review, the registered person must produce a written report setting out the actions the registered person intends to take as a result of that quality of support review.

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Requirements Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the review report to the CIECSS within 28 days beginning with the day on which the report is completed, and make a copy of it available on request to each child’s accommodating authority. (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2) (3))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should maintain good employment practice. They should ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. In particular, ensure all overseas police checks are completed before staff start working with children. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 51)  The registered person must ensure that any service using CCTV or other monitoring equipment in a setting must only do so in communal areas and this must only be to support the safeguarding, protection and wellbeing of young people. Any use of CCTV must be no more intrusive than is needed and should respect the privacy of young people. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 30) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 7

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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: LCT Care Ltd 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: 1 Elmfield Park, Bromley BR1 1LU

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: info@leafcommunitytrust.org.uk

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Inspector

Ann Adesoye, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: LCT Care Ltd 9 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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