Contact: Gill Horrobin Tel: 01962 847263 email: [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report summarises the outcomes from Ofsted Inspections for Hampshire Children's Services Residential provision, 2007/08.

1.2 It provides a summary sheet of judgements made by Ofsted in respect of all Hampshire's residential homes (at Appendix 1) and a summary of the themes resulting from the requirements and recommendations. In addition, it demonstrates the speed within which some responses and subsequent actions have been progressed when individual homes have had requirements imposed or identified good practice recommendations.

2 Recommendations

That the Executive Member for Children & Families

· Approves the actions taken which address requirements and recommendations in order to further develop the service and welcomes the progress that the Children's Residential Sector is making regarding improvements in the quality of service provision.

3 Background

3.1 The structure for delivery of Hampshire's residential services changed at Children's Services re-structuring. The service now comprises 11 homes, 7 of which are centrally line managed and provide a range of short and longer term care for the County, 3 which provide locally based respite care for children with disabilities (as part of the Family Support Service) and the secure unit which is a national resource.

3.2 Cypress Lodge as a service has moved to be accommodated at what was The Corner House, Aldershot (prior to its closure in February 2007) whilst its Basingstoke premises undergo a major refurbishment. After consultation, Ofsted required that the Registered Manager for the Cypress Lodge service remain responsible for both the service, currently based at The Corner House, plus the premises of Cypress Lodge in Basingstoke. This is on the basis that the building in Basingstoke remains registered. Therefore, 12 residential homes are listed in Appendix 1.

3.3 The inspection regime for 2007/08 changed as regulatory responsibility was combined between the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and Ofsted to form the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (still called Ofsted). The judgements made in inspections continue to relate to the current National Minimum Standards (NMS) for Children's Homes and the grading scale now used to make the judgements is a straightforward four-point scale (as is the case with all types of inspections for local authorities) in respect of the 5 Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes (plus Organisation as the 6^th category), i.e. Outstanding, Good, Satisfactory or Inadequate, with any applicable requirements or recommendations identified. Depending upon the grading of each identified outcome inspected for each home, an overall quality rating is allocated, which again uses the four-point scale.

3.4 Each residential home has 2 inspections in each financial year, therefore, there are 22 quality ratings for the Hampshire residential service overall (plus 2 ratings for Cypress Lodge which is a compliance inspection and merely an inspection of the building, so excluded for the purposes of any statistics highlighted in this report). The first inspection is classed as a `key' inspection which is the main inspection and is detailed, wide ranging and usually looks at all of the ECM outcomes. The second is classed as `random' and is a shorter, more targeted inspection which will monitor progress against any required action from the previous inspection.

3.5 It is not possible to compare performance on a `like-for-like' basis with the last two financial years as the process for inspection has changed. The summary of Inspections Outcomes, in terms of the judgements, can be seen at Appendix 1, as can the definition of the 4 grades used.

4 Summary of Judgements

4.1 Three residential homes achieved an outstanding overall rating for both inspections for the year. One home received a good rating on their first inspection and outstanding on their second. Three homes received a good rating on both their inspections and three homes received a satisfactory rating for both inspections. One home received an inadequate rating for their first inspection and a good rating for the second which took place just 2 months later, demonstrating a substantial improvement in a very short period of time. See Appendix 1 for a summary of all ratings against the ECM outcomes.

4.2 In summary, of the 22 inspections (2 per home) carried out by Ofsted for the year 2007/08, 7 inspections judged the homes to be outstanding, 8 were judged as good, 8 were judged to be satisfactory and 1 inadequate.

4.3 Of the 22 inspections, 9 resulted in no requirements or recommendations and a further 6 had no requirements but had 1 or more good practice recommendations in order to develop the service further. A further 7 inspections resulted in requirements and included some key themes which are described in Section 5 below.

5 Requirements and Good Practice Recommendations - Themes

5.1 One theme which has been identified across a number of homes, is in relation to administration, storage and recording of medication, including controlled drugs. There were some shortfalls in the way some homes administer medication and the sector has been seeking advice and support from Hampshire PCT and the Learning and Development Unit in order to address this. This has resulted in training being provided to all residential homes, in conjunction with a revision to the departmental policy and procedure which is almost complete. The training is ongoing.

5.2 A number of requirements and recommendations related to the quality of the environment, i.e. the building itself and the décor within. Two examples of this are as follows: `Ensure the operation and maintenance of the service is efficient, in particular inter departmental communication such as project contracting, repairs and building works in accordance with Regulation' and `Continue the programme of redecoration and refurbishment'. There is no doubt that some programmes of refurbishment are large scale and timescales can sometimes be out of the Registered Manager's control. However, communication between Children's Services and Property, Building and Regulatory Services could be further improved. The two departments are jointly addressing this and planning how repairs and maintenance can be addressed in a more proactive way to avoid the risk of Ofsted imposing requirements.

5.3 The home which received an inadequate rating for their first inspection provides a service for children with disabilities, joint funded between Children's Services and Health. The requirements imposed by Ofsted were predominantly around the actual building and environment and around organisational responsibility (between the two agencies), notably in respect of responding to health and safety matters. Most requirements were responded to and met immediately and at the second inspection, just 2 months later, the one outstanding requirement related to areas of the roof which are still leaking. This problem is being addressed and should be rectified imminently.

5.4 All residential homes are responsible for drawing up an action plan which responds to any requirements or recommendations. The plan will have identified timescales for completing the action, in accordance with those clearly laid out by Ofsted. At times it is a challenge to meet the timescales, particularly when action required relates to major refurbishment of a home involving tendering processes and lengthy timescales which must be adhered to.

6 Conclusion

6.1 It is clear from the overall ratings that the children's residential service in Hampshire provides a very good quality service with almost a third being of consistent exceptional quality. This is a testament to the managers and staff within the homes, particularly as the sector provides a service to the most challenging and vulnerable group of children and young people - it is certainly one of the highest risk areas of service delivery.

7 Consultation

7.1 Consultation with a range of stakeholders, including parents and children/young people using the residential service, is an integral part of residential inspection. Views about the service are incorporated into the overall process and judgements awarded take these views into account.

8 Legal implications

None

9 Financial implications

None

10 Personnel implications

None

11 Impact assessment

Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

12 Crime prevention issues

None

13 Views of the Local County Councillor

13.1 Not applicable

Action 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high provision

Good: this aspect of the provision is strong

Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound

Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

Not Judged: not evaluated by inspectors at this inspection