SAFEGUARDING concerns have prompted Ofsted to temporarily close a Bradford Council-run children’s home.

It follows a series of damning reports where serious concerns were raised about Valley View House, on Lister Lane, Undercliffe, which was branded ‘inadequate’ following a full inspection in May this year. 

The registered provider - Bradford Council - was issued with enforcement action and requirements to improve, with July 11 set as the timescale.

A report from the inspection of Valley View, which was carried out on May 26 and 27, said: “There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of some children are poor, and they are not making progress.”

The report said were a number of staff vacancies, resulting in children “who need a consistent approach being cared for by a high number of agency staff whom they do not know”. 

It added: “Children have good relationships with the permanent members of staff. These staff members advocate for the children but speak of their frustrations when managers make no sustained changes at the home. One staff member said: ‘There is no evidence that leadership inspires children to fulfil their potential’.”

Inspectors also found that staff were not aware of the most up-to-date care needs of the children and said managers “do not promote children’s participation in the running of their home”.

The report highlighted how children’s meetings had been reduced to just one every three months and said: “When children give their views, these are ignored by managers. For example, children have no choice in their food menu and complain about the quality of the food prepared.”

Inspectors said children had limited opportunities to go out on activities, while some communal areas were failing to provide a “homely environment”.  

Concerns were also raised that staff had used interventions which were not approved, or identified, in the children’s behaviour support plans. Inspectors deemed the management oversight of restraints as “poor”, as well as the leadership and management of the home.  

Their report said: “The managers have not been effective in making and sustaining improvements over time. This means that children are having poor experiences living at this home.”

A monitoring visit took place on June 11 and was carried out following concerns raised in relation to “inadequate care and supervision of children”.

However, that report said progress was beginning to be made in “addressing areas of weakness” and no regulatory breaches had been found, but a further monitoring visit would take place to look at the action taken to meet shortfalls from the earlier full inspection.”

The suspension was put in place following the subsequent monitoring visit. A spokesperson for Ofsted said: “We can confirm that we have suspended the registration of this setting due to safeguarding concerns. This will be kept under review.”

Mark Douglas, strategic director of children’s services, said: “Ofsted has issued a temporary notice to close Valley View care home while we address a number of issues at the home, all of which we were aware of.

"All of the children who lived at Valley View are currently being cared for in other homes or where possible have returned to stay with their parents.”