5. Inspection of Residential Children’s Houses by the Care Inspectorate Barrochan & Beech Ave ECSPB 21 08 25
Renfrewshire Council · 21 August 2025
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 21 August 2025 and its agenda
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Page 1 of 5 To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 21 August 2025 __________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Children’s Services __________________________________________________________________ Heading: Inspection of Residential Children’s Houses by the Care Inspectorate __________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1. Renfrewshire children’s services operate 4 residential children’s houses across Renfrewshire subject to inspection by the Care Inspectorate on a regular basis. 1.2. The Care Inspectorate utilise a quality frameworks approach to evaluate the quality of care during inspections of registered care services. After an inspection the Care Inspectorate grades the service and promotes an improvement agenda. __________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1. The Education and Children’s Services Policy Board is asked to note: [a] the outcome of the inspections of both Barrochan residential children’s house & Beech Avenue residential children’s house; and [b] actions have been taken to address the requirements and areas for improvement by the leadership team in Children’s Services and the individual houses. __________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Social work and social care services are subject to a range of audit and scrutiny activities to ensure that they are undertaking all statutory duties and providing appropriate care and support to vulnerable individuals and groups. A number of social work and social care services are required to register with the Care Inspectorate. These registered services are subject to regular inspection by the Care Inspectorate. Typically, registered support services will be subject to one inspection per year which will be unannounced.
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Page 2 of 5 3.2 Inspectors use quality frameworks to evaluate the quality of care during inspections and improvement planning. The frameworks reflect the Health and Social Care Standards and provides transparency about what is expected. 3.3 The Care Inspectorate utilises the following gradings across each of the areas considered during each inspection: • Unsatisfactory – major weaknesses, urgent remedial action is required. • Weak – important weaknesses, priority action required. • Adequate – strengths just outweigh weaknesses. • Good – important strengths, with some areas for improvement. • Very good – major strengths. • Excellent – outstanding or sector leading. 3.4 The Care Inspectorate publishes the inspection reports on its website. In addition to awarding grades in each of the themes inspected, the Care Inspectorate can make a recommendation or put in place a requirement. A recommendation will set out an action that would improve or develop the quality of the service, but failure to meet a recommendation would not result in enforcement by the Care Inspectorate. Requirements are legally enforceable and set out what is required by a care service to comply with the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 or with the conditions of registration. 3.5 An unannounced inspection by the Care Inspectorate in relation to two children’s houses operated by Renfrewshire Council were completed in the period October 2024 to March 2025. 3.6 Barrochan residential children’s house and Beech Avenue residential children’s house are 2 separate registered services, each with a link inspector from the Care Inspectorate who explore an improvement agenda during the inspection and throughout the year. __________________________________________________________________ 4. Recent inspection activity – Barrochan residential children’s house 4.1 Barrochan residential children’s house was visited by inspectors on 8 October 2024 where the focus of the inspection was how well the house supports children’s rights and well-being (quality indicator 7). There are two elements to this indictor: children and young people are safe, feel loved and get the most of live (quality indicator 7.1) and leadership and staff have the capacity to meet and champion children and young people’s needs and rights (quality indicator 7.2). 4.2 The inspectors graded Barochan as good for quality indicator 7.1 and adequate for quality indicator 7.2). This results in an overall grading of adequate. This is the second inspection in succession where Barochan has been graded as adequate overall with the same sub-grading of good for quality indicator 7.1 in both inspections. The Chief Social Work Officer is in discussion with the Care Inspectorate on how improvements to be made to quality indicator 7.2.
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Page 3 of 5 4.3 Generally, an assessment of adequate shows that strengths just outweigh weaknesses, however in this instance the inclusion of good offers encouragement of the house’s trajectory. The inspection recognised positive development in systems and their application but felt that there remained scope for further progression around these to make it operationally as robust and as effective as it could be. 4.4 Despite the areas deemed adequate by inspectors, they assessed the criteria of ‘Children and young people are safe, feel loved and get the most out of life’ (quality indicator 7.1) as good. They also recognised developments since the new permanent manager had come into post, recruiting a vibrant, enthusiastic and developing team; both areas we would deem to be foundational for future development. 4.5 Inspectors reported that where young people were achieving good outcomes, they applied themselves at college, taking part in courses which introduced them to employment and supported their interests. They also noted that for a few young people, achieving good physical and mental health and excelling in chosen sports, was very important to them and found that for other young people, staff continued to try to involve them in their personal interests. Access to the local gym and good quality home-made food, supported a healthy outlook for young people and opportunities to cook and bake in the house, provided fun and a sense of achievement. Activity planning was contributed to by young people who enjoyed holidays and activities, including go karting, football and theme nights. 4.6 Inspectors reported that aspects of service improvement were evidenced through improvement planning and that this incorporated a focus on improving outcomes for young people. 4.7 One requirement was directed and three areas for improvement recommended. Action has been taken to address these areas in the development plan for the service, with the aim of improving the current gradings in future inspections. __________________________________________________________________ 5. Recent inspection activity – Beech Avenue residential children’s house 5.1. Beech Avenue residential children’s house was visited by inspectors on 26 March 2025 where the focus of the inspection was how well the house supports children’s rights and well-being (quality indicator 7). There are two elements to this indicator: children and young people are safe, feel loved and get the most of live (quality indicator 7.1) and leadership and staff have the capacity to meet and champion children and young people’s needs and rights (quality indicator 7.2). 5.2. Beech Avenue continues on it’s improvement journey following an inspection 2023/2024 where it was graded as adequate, the team along with external management have implemented robust development plans to make service improvements. These efforts resulted in inspectors grading Beech Avenue as good in all areas assessed in this most recent inspection.
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Page 4 of 5 5.3. Inspectors recognised that the previous requirement and three areas for improvement had all been met within the identified timescales. Within this inspection, no requirements were identified for Beech Avenue and the suggested areas for development have been incorporated into a development plan to assist Beech Avenue achieve a grade of very good in the next inspection. 5.4. Young people at Beech Avenue told inspectors that they felt safe, enjoying warm, caring, nurturing and respectful relationships with key staff members within a homely environment. Staff demonstrated good knowledge of all young people and were alert to indicators of concern, guided by risk assessments and safety plans. One social worker commented "Beech puts everything into trying to support the young person, keeping them as safe as possible". 5.5. Inspectors stated that staff had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures, and the inspection process highlighted ways this could be further strengthened, further commenting that it was also pleasing that the organisation plans to incorporate their adult support and protection training as mandatory for all staff. __________________________________________________________________ Implications of this report 1. Financial None. 2. HR and Organisational Development None. 3. Community/Council Planning None. 4. Legal None. 5. Property/Assets None. 6. Information Technology None. 7. Equality and Human Rights The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. 8. Health and Safety None. 9. Procurement None.
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Page 5 of 5 10. Risk None. 11. Privacy Impact None. 12. Cosla Policy Position None. 13. Children’s Rights This report demonstrates compliance and promotion of Article 3 (best interest of child), Article 9 (keeping families together), Article 12 (respect for children’s views), and 25 (review of a child’s placement) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 14. Climate Risk None. List of Background Papers (a) None __________________________________________________________________ Children’s Services Kevin Smith 7 August 2025 Author: Kevin Smith, Children’s Services Manager, Tel 0141 487 4280
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BeecBeech Ah Avvenue Childrenue Childrens Hens Homeome Care Home Service Paisley Type of inspection: Unannounced Completed on: 26 March 2025 Service provided by: Service provider number: Renfrewshire Council SP2003003388 Service no: CS2003001245
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About the service Beech Avenue is a care home for children, registered to care for a maximum of six young people, up to and including age 20 years. The service is managed by Renfrewshire Council and provides care and accommodation on a short or long term basis for young people from the Renfrewshire area. The property is a large house, with a substantial outdoor area, located in a residential area of Paisley. Each young person has their own bedroom and there is a large kitchen with dining space, along with shared living room areas. At the time of inspection, there were six young people living at Beech Avenue. About the inspection This was an unannounced inspection which took place on 19 March 2025 from 11:45 to 19:15 and 20 March 2025 from 09:15 to 17:45. The inspection was carried out by two inspectors from the Care Inspectorate. To prepare for the inspection we reviewed information from the service. This included registration information, information submitted by the service, and intelligence. To inform the inspection, we: - spent time with three young people living at Beech Avenue - spoke with 10 members of staff including managers - observed practice and daily life - reviewed documents - spoke with three external professionals and four family members - accessed feedback questionnaires. Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 2 of 10
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Key messages - Young people felt safe at Beech Avenue and multi-agency planning provided additional safeguarding. - Independent advocacy was consistently available to young people. - The service was committed to a culture and focus on least restrictive practices. - Young people were encouraged to be safely and meaningfully connected to important people. - Young people's needs could be more effectively met by following the SMART framework. - The matching and admissions process continued to be an area of development for the service. - Staff were benefitting from a variety of training and development opportunities. - There were a number of valuable quality assurance processes in place. - The service could strengthen their analysis and learning from incidents. From this inspection we evaluated this service as: In evaluating quality, we use a six point scale where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent How well do we support children and young people's rights and wellbeing? 4 - Good Further details on the particular areas inspected are provided at the end of this report. Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 3 of 10
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How well do we support children and young 4 - Good people's rights and wellbeing? We made an evaluation of good for this key question as several important strengths, taken together, clearly outweighed areas for improvement. The strengths identified had a significant positive impact on young people's experiences. Young people at Beech Avenue told us they felt safe, enjoying warm, caring, nurturing and respectful relationships with key staff members within a homely environment. Staff demonstrated good knowledge of all young people and were alert to indicators of concern, guided by risk assessments and safety plans. Young people were at times involved in significantly high risk behaviour, but strategies to manage and minimise future risks were established through valuable collaboration and multi-agency review with key external agencies. One social worker commented "Beech puts everything into trying to support the young person, keeping them as safe as possible". Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures, and the inspection process highlighted ways this could be further strengthened. It is also pleasing that the organisation plans to incorporate their adult support and protection training as mandatory for all staff. The service was meaningfully advocating on behalf of the young people. Although not all young people had chosen to accept independent advocacy, this opportunity to support their needs and rights was consistently available. The service was committed to a culture and focus on least restrictive practices, resulting in minimal use of restraint whilst prioritising individualised de-escalation strategies. There had been a number of changes to the staff team at Beech Avenue, reflective of the sector-wide challenges in recruitment of staff; however as they continued to form as a team they promoted positive experiences for young people. The organisation recognised the importance of staff fully understanding the impact of trauma and were in the process of strengthening training and learning opportunities for staff; this included clinical psychology input and the introduction of the Non Violent Resistance approach as a therapeutic model of managing behaviours of concern. Health needs were prioritised for young people, with many accessing a number of specialist medical supports. The service collaborated with a variety of external partners and advocated on their behalf for timely assessments to be undertaken. Not all young people at Beech Avenue were enjoying healthy routines, however staff continued to encourage and offer suggestions based on their knowledge of the young people. Young people were encouraged to be safely and meaningfully connected to important people, and the service recognised the importance of supporting these connections to ensure transitions were well managed. One family member commented that "staff are also helping me with some issues and we work together". Not all young people were consistently or fully involved in learning or employment, leading to less structure at times for some. However, a number of young people had developed important skills and received individually tailored support to enhance their learning. Positive links had also been made with local employability services which young people could benefit from. Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 4 of 10
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The service had a clear commitment to young people staying in the service as they became adults and recognised the importance of young people maintaining relationships once they moved on from Beech Avenue. The inspection highlighted ways that the continuing care agenda could be strengthened and the organisation had plans in place to advance this area. Care planning documents including risk assessment and behaviour support plans supported day to day practice. The importance of gathering young people's views was evident, even if they did not always wish to provide these. Young people's needs could be more effectively met by following the SMART framework (area of improvement 1) and the inspection process did highlight inconsistencies in some risk assessments in relation to agreed levels of concern. The organisation had plans to introduce training regarding care plans and risk assessments to enhance practice in this area. Young people were cared for by staff who felt supported by leaders who were visible, accessible and who prioritised and modelled high standards of practice, seeking the best possible outcomes for young people. The matching and admissions process for Beech Avenue continued to be an area of development for the service to ensure transitions supported successful outcomes, taking account of the needs of all young people (area for improvement 2). There was a strong commitment to ensuring adequate staffing levels at Beech Avenue, with the flexibility to increase numbers at key times. The inspection emphasised the importance of demonstrating staffing assessments to ensure the needs of young people are being met at all times and the organisation reflected on the need to strengthen their decision making recording. Overall, staff were receiving regular supervision and meaningful opportunities to reflect and share practice. Additionally, staff were benefitting from a variety of training and development opportunities, informed by the needs of the young people, including structured induction and probationary periods. The organisation had significant plans to enhance their programme of training for the whole staff group to support improving outcomes for young people. There were a number of valuable quality assurance processes in place, some of which had recently been strengthened. Additionally, the organisation recognised that these processes could benefit from an increased level of external management oversight. Management demonstrated a commitment to improvement through self-evaluation with key documents recently introduced to support enhanced outcomes for young people. This included driving forward how The Promise would be met. The service had a clear incident recording process, supported by oversight at various management levels. However, to further develop the service and fully inform practice, care planning, risk assessments and safeguarding, this process could be strengthened by greater analysis and learning from incidents (area for improvement 3). Areas for improvement 1. To support young people's ongoing development, the service should ensure their care plans are in accordance with SMART principles. Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 5 of 10
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This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: My personal plan is right for me because it sets out how my needs will be met, as well as my wishes and choices. (HSCS 1.15) 2. To support young people's wellbeing and development, the service should ensure that the needs of the young people are closely and thoroughly matched to one another and to the skills of staff. This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: My care and support meets my needs and is right for me. (HSCS 1.19) 3. To support continuous improvement and meet young people's changing needs, the provider should establish a method of incident analysis. This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: I benefit from a culture of continuous improvement, with the organisation having robust and transparentquality assurance processes. (HSCS 4.19) Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 6 of 10
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Requirements Requirement 1 By 1 December 2023, the provider must ensure that young people are living in the right environment, where their needs are being effectively met, including taking account of young people’s views. To do this, the provider must, as a minimum: - ensure that the needs of the young people are closely and thoroughly matched to one another and to the skills and availability of staff - review and document the suitability of the placements of the young people at Beech Avenue in collaboration with other relevant agencies and services - undertake detailed impact risk assessments in a timely manner to support the matching, admissions and care planning processes. This is to comply with Regulation 4(1)(a) and (d) (welfare of users) of The Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (Requirements for Care Services) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/210). This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: My care and support meets my needs and is right for me (HSCS 1.19) and I am listened to and taken seriously if I have a concern about the protection and safety of myself or others, with appropriate assessments and referrals made (HSCS 3.22) and I am in the right place to experience the care and support I need and want (HSCS 1.20). This requirement was made on 25 May 2023. Action taken on previous requirement This requirement related to a specific set of circumstances at Beech Avenue at the time of the last inspection. This current inspection demonstrated strong evidence that young people’s placements were being reviewed on an ongoing basis with other agencies and services to ensure additional safeguards or strategies were considered. Where we were less confident was in the formal matching process and how this is being documented. As a result, we have made an area for improvement specifically in relation to the matching process. Met - within timescales What the service has done to meet any requirements we made at or since the last inspection Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 7 of 10
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Areas for improvement Previous area for improvement 1 To ensure children and young people's rights, views and choices are supported, the provider should encourage greater use of independent advocacy service for the young people. This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: I am supported to use independent advocacy if I want or need this. (HSCS 2.4) This area for improvement was made on 25 May 2023. Action taken since then This inspection demonstrated clear evidence that independent advocacy is being used and offered to young people on a regular basis. Previous area for improvement 2 To support continuous improvement and meet young people's changing needs, the provider should improve their quality assurance processes, including greater analysis of incidents. This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: I benefit from a culture of continuous improvement, with the organisation having robust and transparentquality assurance processes. (HSCS 4.19) This area for improvement was made on 25 May 2023. Action taken since then This area for improvement has been amended for this inspection to remove the quality assurance processes, but keep the analysis of incidents as an area for improvement. Previous area for improvement 3 To ensure young people are supported and cared for by staff with the appropriate skills and training for their role, the service should establish clear oversight of training to ensure mandatory and relevant key training is being undertaken. This is to ensure that care and support is consistent with the Health and Social Care Standards (HSCS) which state that: What the service has done to meet any areas for improvement we made at or since the last inspection Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 8 of 10
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I have confidence in people because they are trained, competent and skilled, are able to reflect on their practice and follow their professional and organisational codes. (HSCS 3.14) This area for improvement was made on 25 May 2023. Action taken since then There is now a method in place to enable oversight, with a senior overseeing this and allocating training to staff. Complaints There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at www.careinspectorate.com. Detailed evaluations How well do we support children and young people's rights and wellbeing? 4 - Good 7.1 Children and young people are safe, feel loved and get the most out of life 4 - Good 7.2 Leaders and staff have the capacity and resources to meet and champion children and young people's needs and rights 4 - Good Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 9 of 10
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To find out more This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website. Care services in Scotland cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and help services to improve. We also investigate complaints about care services and can take action when things aren't good enough. Please get in touch with us if you would like more information or have any concerns about a care service. You can also read more about our work online at www.careinspectorate.com Contact us Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY enquiries@careinspectorate.com 0345 600 9527 Find us on Facebook Twitter: @careinspect Other languages and formats This report is available in other languages and formats on request. Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas. Inspection rInspection reporteport Inspection report for Beech Avenue Childrens Home page 10 of 10