Children's Home run by The Rubix Care Group Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 1 Registered provider: The Rubix Care Group 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 owned by a private company. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home, and the child spoke with the inspector.

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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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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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 for 2800482 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/04/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 3

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Summary of findings

Three children have lived in the home since the last inspection, and there have been several changes to the management and staff team. However, children have been afforded stability in the adults who care for them over the period they have lived at the home. Leaders have prioritised maintaining important relationships with children during moves and enabled children to retain their key staff. Children are supported to move towards or engage in education and improve their emotional wellbeing.

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Summary of findings

The quality of care is not effective in driving service improvement. Reflective practice following incidents requires strengthening, and leaders do not ensure that children and staff are spoken to when formal consequences are implemented. Managers and leaders have not thoroughly explored relevant information in the recruitment process, and notifications of serious incidents to Ofsted have not been completed in a timely way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children have lived at the home since the last inspection. The 2 children who have left the home moved to other homes within the provider network. One child moved with a trusted manager, and the other required alternative facilities in the home. The decisions to move children were child focused and in line with their wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been significant changes to the staff team. However, these changes are largely due to children moving on from the home and key staff moving with them to provide continuity of care. Leaders and managers have enabled children to retain their most important relationships and ensured that they have had consistency in their care. Consequently, children have experienced largely stable staffing and have been able to build trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The provider does not currently have an established therapeutic service in place. However, the therapeutic offer has been reviewed, and the leaders and managers have moved from externally commissioned services to an in-house model. This change has been implemented to strengthen therapeutic oversight and improve integration with care planning. A psychologist has been appointed and is due to commence their role shortly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean and welcoming. Maintenance issues are swiftly remedied. Staff support children to personalise their bedroom swiftly after they move in. The child who currently lives at the home has some of their personal belongings in communal areas, demonstrating a sense of belonging and ownership. The child is relaxed, comfortable and at ease in their home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have moved into the home have experienced significant barriers to education, including mental health difficulties, prolonged periods of non-attendance and Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 4 disruption caused by placement moves. Leaders and staff have responded appropriately to each child’s individual circumstances. The child currently living at the home was supported to access a suitable educational provision shortly after moving in. As a result, children have made progress in their educational engagement, attendance and readiness to learn.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff understand children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health needs. Plans to support children’s mental health are comprehensive, individualised and informed by effective multi-agency working. Staff discuss children’s mental health with them, and these discussions are sensitive and centred on promoting children’s understanding and best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager places a strong emphasis on developing and maintaining positive relationships with children’s families and people who are important to them. Communication is tailored to families’ preferred methods of contact, helping to establish effective partnerships. As a result, families and staff work collaboratively to understand and meet children’s needs. This joined-up approach helps children to feel settled, supported and secure in their home.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour effectively and respond to incidents appropriately. On one occasion, staff sought the support of emergency services that was proportionate, appropriate and based on the child’s immediate needs and level of risk.

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

Staff rarely use physical intervention to keep children safe. When physical interventions do occur, leaders and managers promptly review the incident and speak with both staff and children involved. They help to ensure that children’s safety and wellbeing remain central to practice and that children’s views are considered as part of the evaluation of incidents. However, reflective discussions with staff following incidents are not consistently effective in identifying learning or opportunities to improve practice. In addition, leaders, managers and staff do not always consider the potential emotional and physical impact on children of where interventions take place.

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

Staff rarely use formal consequences. When they are used, they are proportionate and relevant to children’s behaviours. Managers maintain timely oversight of consequences and ensure that they are appropriate. However, records do not demonstrate that children and staff are consistently spoken with following the use of consequences in line with regulatory requirements.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. Each child has an individual missing-from- home plan that is regularly reviewed and updated. These plans provide staff with clear guidance on what they should do when a child is missing.

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

Children do not make complaints about the home. Staff ensure that children understand their rights and know how to access the complaints procedure when they move into the Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 5 home. The child said that they feel listened to and can speak to staff if they have any worries or concerns.

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

External complaints are rare. When concerns have been raised by neighbours, managers have responded promptly and constructively. This helps to maintain positive relationships in the local community and promotes positive perceptions of children.

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

Staff understand the home’s whistleblowing procedures and know how to raise concerns. Managers regularly revisit whistleblowing arrangements during supervision sessions to ensure that staff remain confident in reporting concerns.

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

There have been 2 allegations made since the last inspection. In both cases, leaders acted swiftly to meet the immediate safeguarding needs of children. Relevant procedures were followed and relevant professionals were informed promptly. Although managers and leaders informed Ofsted of the concerns, the notifications were delayed. This limited the regulator’s ability to maintain effective oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The last registered manager left the home in May 2025. Since that time, there have been 3 interim managers. However, the impact of the instability in management arrangements on children has been minimised as each child in the home has spent the majority of their time with one consistent manager. There have been persistent efforts by the provider to ensure that there is suitable management of the home, and each manager has submitted their application to register with Ofsted in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current interim manager is registered at another setting. Although their time is split between 2 homes, the manager is present and accessible. Staff report that the manager is approachable and that they feel well supported and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides staff with regular supervision. Supervision sessions focus on safeguarding children and provide an opportunity for staff to reflect on their practice. Supervision sessions are an effective tool for monitoring and improving the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Two staff members hold the required qualification. All other staff have been enrolled on the relevant qualification promptly and remain within the required timescales for completion. The manager monitors staff progress through regular supervision and oversight arrangements, ensuring that staff receive the necessary support to achieve their qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person visits the home regularly to monitor the quality of care provided to children. Since the last inspection, the provider has changed their independent person on 2 occasions, which has brought fresh perspectives and strengthened external scrutiny of the home. The independent persons have made relevant and appropriate recommendations, and senior leaders have responded promptly to them. Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 6 Managers and leaders complete timely reviews of the quality of care provided and submit these reports to Ofsted within the required timescales. However, the evaluations are not consistently sufficiently robust in assessing the home’s strengths, weaknesses and overall effectiveness. Consequently, the resulting action plans do not always clearly relate to identified shortfalls. Some actions reflect expected day-to-day practice rather than targeted measures designed to drive service improvement. These shortfalls limit the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

effectiveness of the reviews in contributing to improving outcomes and experiences for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are safely recruited. However, on one occasion, leaders and managers failed to explore information disclosed by staff during the recruitment process. As a result, leaders and managers cannot be assured that all relevant information has been appropriately assessed to determine whether any further safeguards, support or monitoring arrangements are necessary. This shortfall weakens the effectiveness of safer recruitment practice and management oversight. Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 7

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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 Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff implementing a consequence are spoken to and have confirmed that the record is accurate, that the child is spoken to within five days and that their views are clearly recorded and used to develop practice.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 16 December 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (Regulation 32 (1))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that any disclosures made during the recruitment process are fully explored and risk assessed if necessary. 16 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

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. 16 March 2027 Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 8 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; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should review the records of restraint. The reviews should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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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 for 2800482 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Rubix Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1 Cottam Lane Business Centre, Cottam Lane, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston PR2 1JR

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Inspector

Sarah Huntbatch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home for 2800482 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 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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