Tagent Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 1 Tagent Limited Registered provider: Tagent Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

A private provider operates this supported accommodation service. It can accommodate up to 12 individuals in 4 shared or group living premises that are not limited to looked-after children or care leavers. The provider is in the process of seeking to vary their conditions of registration to limit 3 of the proprieties to accommodating only looked-after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, 6 looked-after children or care leavers were using this service.

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provider

The current registered service manager, who is also the nominated individual, registered with Ofsted when the service was registered on 23 November 2023.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 13 July 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site from 15 to 17 July.

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Outcome

Serious or widespread weaknesses lead to significant concerns about the experiences and progress of children. Leaders and managers must take urgent action to address failings. The next inspection will be within approximately 6 months.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not consistently operate this service in accordance with The Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Children whose needs and risks exceed the scope of the regulations have been admitted to this service. This places them and other children that they live with at greater risk of harm.

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Summary of findings

Gaps in monitoring and oversight have limited the registered service manager's ability to identify shortfalls and to take effective action when concerns increase. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 2 Children and professionals spoke positively about the service. Staff care about children and make attempts to support children to progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children's progress in this supported accommodation service varies. Some children have made progress, and this has led to successful outcomes. Other children have experienced little or fluctuating progress, and for some children there has been a decline.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Shortfalls in the admissions process have resulted in children moving into the service when their needs and risks are outside of the expectations and scope of supported accommodation. This raises serious harm and exploitation concerns because some children are not yet ready to live in this type of service and do not have the skills to keep themselves safe. Weaknesses in considering the compatibility of children when they move in have meant that for some children the potential risks have increased.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children's accommodation is to a good standard, and they are provided with everything that they need when they move in. Children are given information about the service and how to make a formal complaint. One child said that they had not read it but that they were happy with the support they received.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

When children have shared concerns not viewed as formal complaints, there is no established system for recording these or evidencing the response that they have received. For example, children have been unhappy about noise from others in their home or have felt that staff oversight was too intrusive. Leaders and managers have not fully addressed these concerns or recorded their actions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children speak positively about the help that they receive, and some have built trusting relationships with staff. Professionals acknowledge the benefits of these relationships. Staff are ambitious for children and want them to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Some children attend college. Staff make attempts to encourage children to increase their independence skills and encourage them to access education, training or employment. For example, children have been helped to prepare a CV, and another child is to attend an induction at college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children are encouraged to join in activities that reflect their interests, for example attending sports matches. Children are also supported to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. This gives children an additional support network for the future as they move towards adulthood and independence.

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How well children are helped and protected

Some staff understand children's known risks and vulnerabilities and have made attempts to support children to keep themselves safe. Staff are given clear guidance as to what steps to take if children are away from their home. However, staff do not consistently follow missing-from-home procedures, which meant that a child was not Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 3 reported missing until the following day. Furthermore, the incident log does not identify what actions were taken prior to that to try to locate the child.

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How well children are helped and protected

Shortfalls in staff's understanding of children's histories and their safeguarding responsibilities have placed children at risk. For example, incorrect information being shared by staff has impacted on police decision-making when children have been missing or away from their home. On another occasion, a child who had become separated from their friends in the early hours was instructed to walk a considerable distance and then use public transport to return to their home.

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How well children are helped and protected

Although staff have completed mandatory training, there are gaps in the knowledge of some staff, which could place children at risk. For example, not all staff would follow the correct steps if an allegation were to be made or are aware of the role of the local authority designated officer.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff have effective links with local authorities and share information effectively. However, leaders and managers do not inform Ofsted when serious incidents occur or if children's known risks increase. This limits Ofsted's ability to monitor the action taken to protect children from serious harm.

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How well children are helped and protected

Although children's support plans are shared with them, they are not routinely involved in their creation. Children's thoughts as to how they might be helped to develop their independent living skills, emotional resilience, practical life skills and knowledge of how to keep themselves safe are not consistently evidenced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager is enthusiastic about helping children. She is visible within the service, and children speak highly of her. Staff say that they are well supported and that she is always available to provide guidance. Professionals say that communication from and with the service is good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have recently increased the frequency of team meetings to enable more staff to attend. This helps staff to provide a consistent response to children. Minutes of these meeting do not always include the outcomes of discussions about each child. Leaders and managers cannot be assured therefore that all staff have a full understanding of recent incidents or events in children's lives that may impact their progress to independence and adulthood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There are systems in place to ensure that staff complete their mandatory training, and when the practice of an agency member of staff fell below expectation, this was addressed. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that all staff are familiar with and follow the service's policies and procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff receive formal supervision. However, there have been occasions when staff have not completed actions identified in these sessions. The registered service manager receives supervision from an external supervisor. Nevertheless, there are occasions when the manager has provided this supervisor with inaccurate and Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 4 misleading information. This significantly undermines the ability of the external supervisor to evaluate how the service is meeting children's needs and meeting its regulatory requirements. Furthermore, staff do not receive an annual appraisal. This limits the understanding of strengths and weaknesses in staff knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not ensure that only children who are ready to live in supported accommodation have been admitted to the service. Furthermore, when it is evident that children's risks are not reducing or new risks emerge, leaders and managers do not take effective action to support children to move to a service where these needs can be met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Management oversight of the service is not effective. This is compounded by the manager reporting that there are issues with the electronic system. There are no mechanisms for tracking and evidencing children's progress, or lack of it. Similarly, there is little evidence of children being actively involved in creating plans to support them to be safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The 6-month review of the quality of support does not include feedback from children, staff or professionals. This is a missed learning opportunity to ensure that the developing of the service meets children's needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not ensure that children’s records are accurate or that they are consistently updated. For example, incident logs do not always show what steps have been taken to support children or help them to develop relevant independent living skills. Children's risk assessments and other documents are not always updated in a timely fashion. This does not help staff to understand what is required of them to support children to be safe. The record of when children move into and out of the service is incomplete. This means that valuable information about children's journeys towards adulthood might be lost. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 5

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff. (Regulation 4 (1) (2 (a)(c)(f)(g)) 30 August 2026

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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 (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

are protected from harm; 30 August 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 6 are enabled to keep themselves safe;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar and act in accordance with child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 5 (1) (2) (a)(i)(ii)(iii)(f)(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 children are encouraged and enabled to take a lead role in determining the support they receive and to participate in and influence how the supported accommodation operates;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

in the event that the registered person or a member of staff considers that an accommodating authority or a relevant person is failing to provide the support set out in a child's relevant plans, make representations, or, as the case may be, enable staff to make representations, to the accommodating authority or relevant person with a view to ensuring that the child's needs are met. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(c)(h)) 30 August 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; 30 August 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 7 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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

any other individuals or organisations who or which have been notified;

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

is made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(f) (4)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint or representation, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 31(3)) 30 August 2026

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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— 30 August 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 8 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

relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met. (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep records of other information relating to the supported accommodation undertaking set out in Schedule 3.

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Requirement Due date

maintain the records in Schedule 3, which may be kept in electronic form;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; (Regulation 25 (1) (2)(a)(b)) 30 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. (‘Guide to the support accommodation regulations including quality standards’ page 51, paragraph 5)

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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: Tagent Ltd 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Talent Nyatsanza

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Inspector

Laura Grundy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Tagent Ltd 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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