A children’s home has been issued a compliance notice and told to make improvements after children have been “hindered” by shortfalls in management and safeguarding.

The home, which is in Blackburn with Darwen, has recently was visited by Ofsted in May, who rated the home as “requires improvement".

The inspectors said children are “making progress” but their overall experiences have been “hindered by shortfalls found in leadership and management and aspects of safeguarding practice”.

Inspectors said the home provides engaging activities for the children including swimming, trips to the cinema and fairground, and are encouraged to pursue hobbies.

Inspectors also added all the children are found to be in good health and staff respond well when they need help with their mental health.

Inspectors said staff are “long-standing”, “resilient” and are “good at managing children’s behaviours”, despite them having “complex and challenging behaviours”.

Some of the children have previously made allegations of abuse, but inspectors found staff “did not have a good understanding of the steps to be taken to safeguard children and themselves” in the event of an allegation made by a child.

Ofsted inspectors found the effectiveness of leaders and managers to be inadequate, but noted a new manager had been appointed who has “good reflective and evaluation skills”.

The report said: “Changes in management and oversight of the home prior to their appointment led to inconsistent direction, guidance and support for staff, and this affected the continuity of care for children.

“The inspector found shortfalls in respect of effective monitoring and review across several areas in the home.”

Inspectors added that “processes and procedures” in place to manage complaints from children and others are “not sufficient”, with children feeling their complaints have been “destroyed”.

It was also noted children are at risk of harm and that “staff have not received training in the areas relating to children’s current risks”.

Following the inspection, Ofsted made the decision to issue the home with a compliance notice.

Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, Councillor Julie Gunn, said: “We are focused on ensuring we respond effectively to the Ofsted recommendations of how to improve the experience of young people in our children’s home.

“We have strengthened the capacity of the leadership and are working with the staff and our partners on immediate and longer term improvements to ensure we make the necessary changes and improve the impact and outcomes of our work.” 

Deputy Director for Children’s Social Care at Blackburn with Darwen Council, Lynn Fields, added: “The management of the home is being supported with an experienced manager from one of our outstanding homes to ensure the staff have the support and guidance required and use therapeutic approaches to be able to respond to the needs of our young people that promotes positive experiences and progress for them.”