Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 1 SC359836 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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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 by a local authority and is registered to provide care for up to 6 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager has been appointed and has submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

There were 5 children living at the home at the time of the inspection. Four children spoke with the inspectors about their experiences of living there.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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

Date of last inspection: 3 February 2026

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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 for children's home: SC359836 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2026 Full Good 18/06/2024 Full Good 19/09/2023 Full Good 14/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 3

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Summary of findings

Staff are resilient and provide loving and nurturing care; however, children’s sense of belonging to the home is varied, as is their progress. Children regularly go missing from the home. There has been a serious safeguarding incident at the home recently. Staff generally take proactive and effective action following an incident; however, there is insufficient learning from incidents which limits improvement of preventative measures to help strengthen safeguarding practice in the home.

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improvement to be good

The progress and experiences of children living at the home are mixed. Some children like living at the home and other children do not. One child who has moved in since the last inspection said they liked the staff and described the home as ‘chilled out’. An older child said that they ‘hate’ living at the home and want to move out. Another child who has lived at the home for over a year is settled and making progress in all areas of their life.

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improvement to be good

Staff provide children with nurturing and loving care. Relationships between staff and children are generally positive. Staff regularly talk to children about topics that are relevant to them and seek their wishes and views. Children’s meetings are held regularly, and discussions are captured in a colourful and creative book which children help to complete.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children with their education. One child who did not regularly attend school before they lived at the home recently completed GCSE exams. Staff are proactively helping the child to find suitable employment in line with the child’s wishes. Another child is supported to attend voluntary work with animals which they thoroughly enjoy.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to spend time with people who are important to them. The manager and staff have been consistent and committed in their approach to help build positive relationships with children’s family members for the benefit of children. One family member said, ‘Staff are very, very good at supporting relationships with family. We feel involved and included’.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a spacious and welcoming home. However, some furniture and flooring in children’s bedrooms are damaged, and some communal areas are unclean which detracts from a homely feel. This is something the manager had identified before the inspection and is taking action to address.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 4 Staff encourage children to maintain rules and boundaries. However, this has not always been effective and has led to children being at risk of harm. Staffing arrangements during a serious incident at the home impeded staff’s ability to fully safeguard the children. Subsequently, one child had to immediately move out of the home. On another occasion, a child was able to leave the home at night by smashing their bedroom window without staff’s knowledge.

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improvement to be good

Effective and prompt action is taken by staff following a serious incident; staff involve relevant agencies to ensure children receive the specialist support needed. However, the managers review of incidents does not consider wider concerns or lessons to be learnt to help improve safeguarding practice in the home.

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improvement to be good

The frequency of children going missing from the home is high. Staff generally take appropriate action to ensure that children return home quickly and safely, however on occasion they do not carry out searches and do not accurately record what action has been taken. Information for staff to follow when children go missing from home is vague.

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improvement to be good

Staff complete searches of children’s bedrooms when necessary; however, they do not document that they talked to children beforehand to help them understand the reasons why or that they gained their consent.

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improvement to be good

Children have individual risk and behaviour management plans. However, some information is out of date, and guidance for staff to follow to help keep children safe lacks clarity.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to develop skills for independence and children enjoy time in the community without staff. However, some children spend a considerable amount of time outside of the home and staff do not always know where children are or who they are spending their time with.

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

Children and staff have experienced a period of management instability and change. During the absence of a permanent manager, senior staff stepped in to carry out some management duties, and a new manager started in the role recently. This has, however, meant that there have been some gaps in management oversight and inconsistencies in the quality of care provided to the children.

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

The new manager is experienced, child centred and caring. He is enthusiastic about making positive change and improving outcomes for children. He is a strong advocate for children and works proactively and effectively with other agencies, professionals and families.

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

The manager has been effective in improving staff morale and staff say they enjoy working at the home. One staff member said, ‘I love my job. The team are like a family’. Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 5 The staff team is relatively stable, and most staff have worked at the home for several years.

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

Staff team meetings and supervision sessions are regular. They provide opportunities for staff to discuss and reflect on their practice and the progress of the children.

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

There are monitoring systems in place and one of the assistant managers regularly reviews staff practice. Reviews are child focused and identify areas of progress and achievement. However, management oversight and evaluation of practice at the home lacks depth, which limits opportunities to improve practice. Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 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 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

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

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all risk assessment and behaviour support plans contain up to date and relevant information with clear steps for staff to follow should an incident arise. In addition, that the risks for each child are fully explored and their likely impact fully considered so effective measures can be put in place to help minimise current and emerging risks. 31 December 2026

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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— 31 December 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 7 ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there are sufficient staffing levels in the home to meet the needs of all children. In addition that incidents are fully reviewed and lessons learnt are fully considered and implemented. 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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child's relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children have undamaged bedroom furniture and that all areas of the home are clean and well maintained. In addition, that decisions made about children's time out in the community without staff are fully explored and all risks are considered and documented. 31 December 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that efforts are made to seek the child's consent prior to a bedroom search being undertaken and that this is recorded. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 16, paragraph 3.20).

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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: SC359836 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lancashire County Council, PO Box 100, Preston PR1 0LD

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Inspectors

Zillah Brooks, Social Care Inspector Vicky Byron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC359836 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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