Upwards Care Solutions

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 1 Upwards Care Solutions Registered provider: Upwards Care Solutions Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service was registered on 15 May 2024 and is operated by a private provider in the North West. It provides accommodation for up to 86 individuals in shared or group-living homes that are not limited to looked-after children or care leavers.

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provider

At the time of this visit, the service was providing accommodation for 32 children aged 16 and 17 years.

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provider

The service does not currently have a registered service manager. An application has been submitted to Ofsted.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 21 September 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site on 23 and 24 September 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.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers admit children outside of the registration conditions of the supported accommodation service. They admit children with complex needs that the service cannot meet.

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Summary of findings

Staff support most children to develop the skills they need to prepare for adult life. However, some placements end prematurely because the service cannot meet the children’s needs.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not ensure that plans for all children are comprehensive and meaningful. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 2 Children live in accommodation that is clean and well maintained. However, not all children have sufficient space in their bedrooms to meet their needs. Leaders and managers do not ensure that all hazards in children’s homes are identified and removed.

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Summary of findings

Staff are well supported and trained to perform their roles. Staff are caring and ambitious for children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers do not ensure that all children move into their accommodation in a sensitive and carefully planned way. Some children move in as emergency placements and are unable to view their homes and meet staff prior to admission.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children make good progress in preparation for adulthood. Staff teach children practical skills in planned support sessions and through ongoing discussions. This means that most children develop life skills and increased confidence in being able to live independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children say that they feel happy in their homes. They have access to Wi-Fi throughout their homes, which helps them feel connected to others. Their bedrooms are individualised to their taste. However, some bedrooms are too small to meet children’s individual needs. For example, one child did not have sufficient space to sit at the desk in their bedroom. When children reach adulthood, they remain in the accommodation service until they are fully prepared for independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff encourage and help children to maintain positive relationships with people who are important to them. Staff understand how these relationships support children’s journey into adulthood and promote their emotional wellbeing. Staff are respectful of children’s cultural needs. They support children who are separated from their families and countries of origin to access community amenities, helping to build wider support networks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children to engage in education provision and training, or to seek employment in an area that interests them. They work closely with other agencies to achieve this. Staff make every effort to promote the importance of education, training and employment, and they help children to overcome barriers to participation. Staff are ambitious for children and enthusiastic about the support they provide.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children’s social workers and other agencies are positive about the quality of communication with the service, the quality of the support provided and the progress that children make.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not act quickly enough to identify and remove hazards in the homes. For example, bicycles are kept in communal lounges and kitchen areas. An electric bicycle was charged in one lounge.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers fail to ensure that plans for children are kept updated. For example, one child’s support plan had not been updated since January 2026. The ‘education’ section of another child’s support plan was blank. The child is currently Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 4 not engaged in education provision or training. The weaknesses in children’s plans increases the likelihood that staff may not respond effectively to children’s needs.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff support children to register with dentists, doctors and other primary healthcare services. They collaborate with specialist services when children need additional help, for example, with their mental health. Children access help quickly when they need it most.

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How well children are helped and protected

When children go missing from home, there is a well-coordinated response to reduce the risk of harm. This includes notifying the police and the child’s placing authority. When children return home, they are offered interviews by an independent service.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers act promptly to inform the local authority designated officer when children make allegations of staff misconduct. They take appropriate steps to protect children from harm when they receive such allegations.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers follow safer recruitment processes. This helps to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Children say that they have good relationships with staff. Children know how to make a complaint if they need to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The leadership and management of the service is inconsistent. The service does not have a permanent registered service manager. There has not been a registered service manager since April 2025. The proposed nominated individual recently submitted their application. Their suitability for the role has not yet been assessed. This inconsistency hinders managerial oversight of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers accept children with complex support needs who are not ready to live in supported accommodation. Their placements are not in accordance with the provider’s statement of purpose and some end prematurely because the service cannot meet their needs. Leaders and managers have given notice to end several children’s placements. They have recently made some changes to their admissions processes. However, these are not yet fully embedded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers use a range of methods to monitor the quality of the service. However, these processes are not fully effective. For example, they fail to identify weaknesses in admissions processes and children’s plans. Furthermore, leaders and managers do not complete an effective quality of support review at least once every 6 months. This is a missed opportunity to reflect on areas of identified strengths and weaknesses and the experiences of children. Leaders and managers fail to notify Ofsted when premises are no longer used by the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not consistently inform Ofsted when serious events occur. For example, they fail to inform Ofsted when children sustain injuries or are regularly absent from home overnight in unapproved premises. On some occasions there has been a short delay in submitting notifications. This limits the regulator’s Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 5 ability to maintain oversight and ensure that responses to serious incidents protect and support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers ensure that all staff working with children have the skills and knowledge required to keep them safe. They provide a range of development opportunities for members of staff. Staff are positive about the training that they receive. One member of staff said that the training they had received on autism awareness had helped them to better understand how to develop supportive relationships with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff say that leaders and managers are easy to contact and visit each home regularly. They attend regular supervision meetings with their line managers which they find beneficial. However, leaders and managers fail to ensure that supervision meetings are held in line with organisation’s timescales. Not all supervision meetings are well recorded. Team and management meetings are held regularly and further support peer learning. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that children’s needs can be met in supported accommodation from the point of admission. 8 November 2026

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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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

are designed, furnished and maintained to remove avoidable hazards which could pose a health and safety risk to children;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each child is provided with a private bedroom— 8 November 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 7 with sufficient space to accommodate a reasonable number of personal possessions, which is equipped to meet the child’s individual needs. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(ix)(d)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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

ensure that plans for support are based on initial referral information, are meaningful and are created in full consultation with the child, taking account of relevant plans for the child;

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Requirement Due date

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(b)(c)) 8 November 2026

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement 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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Requirement 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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement 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)) 8 November 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 8 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

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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

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Requirement 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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Requirement 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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Requirement 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)) 8 November 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice in writing to the CIECSS, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place—

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Requirement Due date

If premises are no longer used, or intended to be available for use, as supported accommodation by the supported accommodation undertaking, the registered person must give notice in writing to the CIECSS no later than 10 working days after the registered person becomes aware of the decision to cease use of the premises. (Regulation 34 (1) (2)) 8 November 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 9

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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: Upwards Care Solutions 10

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Upwards Care Solutions Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: Suite 1, 4th Floor Building, 1 Wilson Business Park, Monsall Road, Manchester M40 8WN

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Nominated individual:

Email address: simba@upwardscaresolutions.com

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Inspectors

Steve James, Social Care Inspector Zillah Brooks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Upwards Care Solutions 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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