Go Ahead Homes Ltd.

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 1 Go Ahead Homes Ltd. Registered provider: Go Ahead Homes 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. The service can accommodate up to 72 children and young people in 3 ring-fenced shared accommodation premises and 12 non-ring-fenced shared accommodation properties.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support for 30 children aged 16 and 17.

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provider

The service was registered with Ofsted on 17 September 2024. The service manager has been registered since this date.

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Inspection dates: 3 to 7 August 2026

The inspection was announced on 3 August 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 5 August to 7 August 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children's experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 2

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have good long-standing relationships with local authorities, which means that at times they have accepted children whose needs are unsuitable for supported accommodation.

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Summary of findings

Some of the children need a higher level of care than the supported accommodation service is equipped to provide. The police have also been involved due to violence, criminal damage and the inability of staff to enforce rules and boundaries.

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Summary of findings

Most children are happy and achieve good outcomes. Most social workers praise the quality of support. Shortfalls relate to the need to fully embed into practice and understand the principles of regulated supported accommodation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children's experiences and feedback vary. Some children praise the support and the friendliness of staff and say they would recommend living there. Other children highlight concerns regarding house rules. The direct support and progress of children was also not always evident.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Aspects of the service do not reflect the high level of independence of the children expected to live in supported accommodation. Children highlight their dissatisfaction with the kitchen and lounge being locked at night, meaning they are unable to access all shared areas of their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children receive encouragement to lead a healthy lifestyle, which includes preparing home-made meals and engaging in physical exercise. Children require ongoing encouragement to attend their health appointments. Medication records do not reflect that children take responsibility for self-administering their own medication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children benefit from good outcomes, but this is not consistent for all children. Some appreciate the nurturing support from staff, which enables them to have stability and achieve their goals. Staff create children's support plans, but the children's wishes and feelings are not included. Some children are growing in confidence and resilience, and they receive ongoing support to achieve their potential and increase their independent living skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders, managers and staff are aspirational for children. Children receive encouragement to follow their interests and passions. There is a dedicated worker who focuses on helping children with their education, employment, training and entrepreneurship. For motivated children, the staff go above and beyond to help those children gain employment and start their own businesses. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 3 Children receive support to take their exams and apply for courses that interest them. Most children are in some form of education, employment or training or have active plans to start college in the new academic year.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff encourage, reassure and advocate for children. Children learn to take personal responsibility to prepare for adulthood and, if necessary, parenthood. The emphasis on building trusting relationships means children have a sense of belonging, and they feel cared for. A child commended their named worker for treating them as 'more than a job'.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children develop their social skills and form friendships with each other. They enjoy fun activities, such as movie nights, pamper nights, bowling and go-karting. A recent international football tournament also provided the opportunity for eating and watching the football together. Children can follow their cultural traditions and faiths. Children also choose how they wish to celebrate their birthdays, helping to reduce isolation and encourage inclusion.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders, managers and staff have a passionate commitment to trauma-informed and child-centred practice. Some of the children moving in require a higher level of care than the supported accommodation service is equipped to provide. Leaders and managers express a commitment to not giving up on children. However, at times, this has resulted in children remaining in the homes too long.

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How well children are helped and protected

Some children are not emotionally ready for supported accommodation at the point of referral. This has resulted in a very high number of notifications. At times, staff find it difficult to instil boundaries, resulting in the need to involve the police to manage children's behaviour. The police have also been contacted due to threats to staff, violence and criminal damage to property.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children have risk assessments that outline issues of concern. Staff do not consistently update risk assessments to include current risks and the action needed following incidents. An example is not updating a risk assessment after a serious incident of self-harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

Most staff are working with children to raise their awareness of exploitation and unhealthy relationships. However, there are occasions when direct work has not been undertaken to address these significant issues. Some children have been able to significantly turn their lives around, benefiting from relatable mentoring arrangements.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children value the fact that staff take time to get to know them, listen to them and are genuinely interested in their wellbeing and progress. Many staff understand children's trauma and the emotional support they need. Children benefit from the provision of an in-house therapist. They are also able to keep pets, which contributes to their emotional wellbeing. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 4 Overall, children learn to take responsibility for unacceptable behaviour and apologise for their actions. Staff sensitively engage children in reflective conversations. Children are learning to manage their emotions and express themselves. Children are becoming more mature and self-aware. They understand what upsets them and what action to take when this happens.

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How well children are helped and protected

There have been no restraints, and there are no concerns regarding radicalisation or extremism. There are a lot of missing-from-home episodes. However, children are usually staying with family or friends. Staff follow the missing-from-home procedures, and staff liaise appropriately with social workers. Nonetheless, the frequency of children going missing is not reducing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers genuinely care about children and want to make a positive difference in their lives. The issue is the desire to be helpful and maintain positive working relationships with local authorities. This means that the provider has made the decision to accept some children who require a greater level of care due to their complex and high-risk needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

This is a long-standing supported accommodation service, which was operating for many years prior to the introduction of regulation. Referrals and matching require better screening to ensure children are emotionally and mentally ready for supported accommodation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is a dynamic registered service manager, who is dedicated to her role. The leadership of the organisation has been further improved by appointing a deputy manager, and house managers who have their own unique strengths. Daily management meetings ensure the ongoing monitoring of children's experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Some social workers commend the excellent support and good partnership working. 2 social workers identify areas for improvement relating to consistency, communication and proactive planning. A social worker described the support as 'inconsistent and disjointed'. Another said it was 'one of the best homes' they had worked with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Generally, there is a good-quality assurance system, which ensures learning from regular visits from placing authorities. Staff often consult with children, action any complaints and collate compliments. Leaders and managers complete regular reviews of the quality of children's support. There is a missed opportunity to include the positive feedback from staff and children's experiences of moving into and out of their homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Most children live in properties that are clean, comfortable and generally well maintained. Some properties require further attention regarding redecoration and being made to look more homely. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 5 A particular asset of the organisation is the staff team. Staff are caring, resilient, committed and nurturing. The enthusiastic team feels valued and well supported. It benefits from team awaydays, team meetings and specific training tailored to improve its practice. Staff receive coaching and appraisals. They receive supervision, which is usually every 6 weeks. Some staff would benefit from more frequent supervision to help them develop greater confidence in their role. The organisation is committed to vocational training, which includes level 3 and level 5 training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers want to comply with regulations and acknowledge there is a need to increase their understanding of what it means to be regulated and respond to local authority's requests. Leaders and managers have appropriately actioned the requirements from the monitoring visit from October 2025. There is a good foundation to further improve. Leaders and managers are aware of all the children and the service's strengths and challenges, and there are plans to further enhance the service for children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 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, 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. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children's independence is promoted, and the kitchen and lounge should not be locked. 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

are familiar and act in accordance with child protection policies; 30 September Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 7 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

support children to maintain appropriate and safe relationships with family, friends and other people who are important to them;

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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)(f)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must obtain all the key information relating to children's needs and risks prior to admission to ensure that they can meet the child's needs, and keep this under review; ensure that children's risk assessments are accurate and up to date; and ensure the work undertaken with children regarding exploitation and risks is clearly documented.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a behaviour management policy setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the approach to supporting children to maintain a reasonable standard of behaviour that reduces the risk of harm to, and supports the welfare and protection of, children and other individuals;

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Requirement Due date

the expectations of children in relation to their behaviour, what will happen if those expectations are not met, and how the registered person will ensure that children know what those behaviour expectations are;

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the premises providing supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

how the registered person will deal with challenging behaviour, including— 30 September Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 8 methods of de-escalation;

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Requirement Due date

taking a proportionate approach to involving other authorities;

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Requirement Due date

how the registered person will promote the development of positive and respectful relationships between children who are accommodated by the supported accommodation undertaking and staff. (Regulation 22 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have the skills to promote positive behaviour in the premises to support children to develop positive and respectful relationships and minimise the need for police involvement.

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Requirement 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—

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Requirement 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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Requirement Due date

feedback from staff. (Regulation 32 (1)(b)(c)) 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each child is provided with support to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of their support package. In particular, their views should be detailed in their support plan. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 34)  The registered person should ensure that the service has appropriate arrangements in place for the administering of medication, including processes for record-keeping. In particular, the medication administration record should not have a heading regarding staff administering medication. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 39)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that for supported accommodation settings to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of young Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 9 people, they will always be homely and welcoming environments. ('Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards', page 29)

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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: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 10

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd.

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Supported accommodation provider details

Nominated individual: Kevin Igbanoi Otsemobor

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Stephanie Okolo

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Inspectors

Sharon Payne, Social Care Inspector Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Go Ahead Homes Ltd. 11 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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