Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 1 SC035439 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

This home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home and both spoke about their experiences.

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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

Date of last inspection: 3 September 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

The home was judged requires improvement to be good at the full inspection on 3 and 4 September 2025. A monitoring visit took place on 13 November 2025 and there were serious and widespread concerns. Ofsted issued two compliance notices under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000. These related to Regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and Regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard).

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A further monitoring visit took place on 11 December 2025. The provider had taken sufficient action to meet the compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/05/2025 Full Inadequate 23/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/06/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 3

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Summary of findings

The children have positive relationships with staff who have high aspirations for them. Staff spend time supporting children to develop their independence skills and both children are enrolled at college. Quality time with family and friends is promoted by staff, and professionals say they are happy with the care children receive living at the home.

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Summary of findings

Children’s risks are reducing and the frequency of incidents for one child is declining. Staff respond appropriately when incidents occur. However, risk management plans are not consistently clear. This has not been identified or addressed by leaders and managers.

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Summary of findings

The home is not homely and lacks personalisation. When children make a complaint, they do not always receive a response regarding the progress and outcome. Staff do not always consult with children prior to completing a bedroom search, which can cause them distress. When consequences are used, they are not restorative and their effectiveness is not evaluated.

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Summary of findings

There are shortfalls in staff reporting and recording, which are not always identified by leaders and managers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress. Staff support children to develop their interests and engage in education. Both children are enrolled at college and are looking forward to the next stage of learning. Staff talk to children about their future aspirations and support them to develop clear plans to achieve their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain important relationships with family and friends. They enjoy experiences in line with their peers including days out and staying overnight with friends. This helps promote the children’s sense of identity and stability, as well as supporting them to build and maintain positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children well in helping them to prepare for adult life. They complete independence work with children in accordance with their developmental age and understanding. This helps children develop the necessary knowledge and skills to flourish when they live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals say that they are happy with the care that the children receive and the progress they are making. They report that staff work well with the children’s wider network and communication is a real strength. Professionals are confident that staff know how to keep the children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 4 Children say that they generally have good relationships with staff and can share any worries or concerns with them. Positively, children know how to make a complaint and are confident in doing this. However, on one occasion when a child raised a complaint, they did not receive a response about any actions taken or the outcome. This does not help children to feel listened to or valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is not homely and there is little personalisation throughout. There are plans in place to make improvements to the home. However, one child said that these plans have been in place for a significant period of time with limited progress. This means that children are less likely to feel valued and that they truly belong at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When consequences are used as a strategy for managing children’s behaviour, they are not restorative. Furthermore, leaders and managers do not evaluate whether consequences are effective, which limits their impact.

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

Risks for children are decreasing. Incidents for one child have reduced in frequency and restrictions for another child have recently been removed due to the positive progress they have made. Staff regularly talk to children about important issues relevant to their needs and risks. This helps children to understand and learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff work closely with those involved in the children’s life, including family, friends and professionals. There is regular communication between professionals to ensure that the children’s needs are met holistically. Staff are proactive in accessing additional support from other agencies when necessary. Furthermore, leaders and managers arrange for professionals to attend team meetings to deliver information and training to staff. This helps develop the staff team’s knowledge and understanding about how to best meet the children’s individual needs.

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

Staff say that they feel confident when dealing with incidents and know what to do. They follow the children’s risk management plans, which are updated regularly to ensure that they remain relevant. However, children’s risk assessments do not always contain clear information for staff to follow, which is confusing. This is not identified or addressed by leaders and managers.

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

Staff take swift action when there are concerns that children have unsafe items in their bedrooms. However, when staff carry out bedroom searches, they do not always speak to children about this. This upsets and frustrates children and does not help them to feel valued and respected. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified registered manager. He is supported by a team of deputy managers. The management team work together effectively, combining its individual strengths and skills to benefit the children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel well supported by leaders and managers. When there are shortfalls in staff practice, managers raise concerns during the team meetings, using it as an opportunity to reflect and share learning as a group. Furthermore, staff receive regular supervision, which also provides them with opportunities to discuss the children’s progress, reflect on their practice and identify future learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recording and reporting across all records is inconsistent, with gaps in information that are not always identified by leaders and managers. This makes it difficult to gain a clear understanding of what happened and how staff responded. It also means that there are missed opportunities for leaders and managers to identify and address shortfalls in staff practice and support them to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When employing new staff members, leaders and managers do not always ensure that there is a satisfactory explanation of any gaps in employment. This means that important information about staff suitability and safeguarding may be missed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 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 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 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—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 30 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 7 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff understand what to do when incidents occur. Leaders and managers must ensure that risk assessments are unambiguous and clearly outline steps that staff should take to safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, leaders and managers must ensure that the home’s records, including records relating to children, contain complete and factual information that fully reflects the circumstances being documented.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that recruitment practice is robust and all gaps in employment are fully known and understood. This includes gaps between leaving education and starting employment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that children live in a homely, well-maintained and welcoming environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that strategies used for behaviour management such as consequences are restorative in nature, evaluated for their effectiveness and revised when appropriate. The records should include full details of any consequences. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to share any

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Recommendations

concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. The registered person should ensure that the child is informed of the progress of their complaint and the outcome as appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that staff respect children’s privacy and should not enter their bedrooms without permission, except where there is a justifiable reason to do so. Furthermore, the registered person should ensure that staff inform children before searching their bedrooms or seek their permission, explaining the reasons for the search. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20) Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 8

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: SC035439 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lancashire County Council

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Danielle Allen, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC035439 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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