Location Assessment

Farnworth Road

Contents page Introduction – legislative background

Accessibility of local services

Map of local services

Collection of publicly available local data

Consultation with appropriate local services

Safeguarding concerns

Risk assessment & Risk management strategies

Annex 1 Consultation

Annex 2 Young people feedback

Introduction – legislative background All children, whether they are looked after by the state or their parents, need to feel safe in the area surrounding their home. Just as any parent would want to their child to live in a safe area so too will a corporate parent who places children in a children’s home. Recent public and media attention has focused on the physical environments of children’s homes. However, it is not always straightforward to define a ‘safe’ area. Whether a location is safe can change rapidly, and may depend on the vulnerabilities of particular children. Indeed some individual children may themselves heighten risks in an area if they have particularly risky behaviours. A home may be located in an area with some local risks, and still be ‘safe’, if these are managed well, arrangements are made to keep children safe, and placement decisions take account of these risks. Consideration of risks in a local area, and what steps should be taken to mitigate these, should be part of the care planning and placement decision process. Placing social workers should be responsible for assessing local risks and making judgments about safe locations before placing the child. The availability of support and services in the local area (e.g. education, health, CAMHS), as well as risk factors, should be considered before the placement is made. There has been in the past a lack of clarity about who must take responsibility for ensuring children’s homes are located safely – including the roles of placing LAs, host LAs, LSCBs and providers themselves.

Role of the provider Better equipping children’s home staff to make judgments about local risks, manage challenging behaviour, and keep children safe is an important element. Workforce training, support and knowledge is therefore critical to the success. It is acknowledged that there are limitations of mapping in capturing a ‘dynamic picture’ but considers that such mapping could play a useful part in the wider assessments of risk. The home’s location assessment should be kept under review and amended to take into account any new risks as these are identified. The annual update will need to be proportionate and will not usually need to be carried out at the level of the initial assessment. Ofsted inspectors may take into account the quality of an existing home’s manager’s location assessment when evaluating the effectiveness of the home’s approach to safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare. It will be essential to talk with children in the home’s care about the quality of life in the area to establish whether they feel safe and how to manage any risks they identify. Children will also be able to offer homes’ managers valuable insights about the quality of local services.

The Children’s Homes and Looked after Children (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2013 introduced the following changes to the Children’s Homes Regulations 2001 and the Registration Regulations:

Regulation 31(1A) and (1B) of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2001 as amended introduced a requirement in January 2014 for providers or managers to:

 ensure that premises used for the purposes of a children’s home are appropriately and suitably located so that children cared for by the home are: (a) effectively safeguarded, and (b) able to access services to meet the needs identified in their care or placement plans;  review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises at least once in every calendar year. Location assessments will need to address two issues:

1. Safeguarding concerns 2. Accessibility of local services It is important for the manager or a potential new provider to have a broad understanding of the characteristics of the area where a home is or may be located. Looked-after children placed in deprived areas, perhaps far away from the authority responsible for their care, may face disadvantage and lack opportunities to enjoy and achieve in these communities. The considerations a home manager will need to take into account, as they carry out a location assessment, may include:

• whether the location of the home influences the potential for an already vulnerable child to be a victim of crime, such as being targeted for sexual exploitation; • whether there is a likelihood of children placed in the home becoming drawn into gang crime or anti-social behaviour in the local area; • the suitability of the local neighbourhood as a location to care for children who may have already been victims of abuse and neglect; and • whether there are environmental factors that would represent a hazard to children, such as locations near level crossings or busy roads.

Location assessments should also take into account any positive features in a local community that would offer benefits to children living in a children’s home. For example, assessments could include evidence about opportunities for children to participate in leisure, sporting or cultural activities, or links with services that could support the child’s ethnic or religious identity.

Accessibility of local services Farnworth Road is located in Penketh in the west area of Warrington. Warrington is a busy town in the county of Cheshire; it is 18.5 miles east of Liverpool, 16 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St. Helens, with a population of approx. 202,000.

Popular attractions in the town include;

 £120 million ‘Golden Square’ shopping centre (Debenhams, JD Sports, River Island, New Look, Scott’s Sports)  The many local parks and nature reserves  Multi-million pound Halliwell Jones Warrington Wolves Rugby League stadium  Manchester Ship Canal, Bridgewater Canal, Lymm Dam, the Mersey Way, Sankey Canal and the many miles of country footpaths  Parr Hall and Pyramid Centre for the Arts (http://www.pyramidparrhall.com/whats-on/) Pyramid is home to many different classes, workshops and sessions. The perfect opportunity to have fun, get fit, meet new friends and learn new skills. Parr Hall offers different shows, plays, music concerts, and events.  Warrington Peace Centre (http://www.thepeacecentre.org.uk/) which offers counselling, youth club, girls group and the National Citizens Award. There are also disability groups and independent living skills group held here.  Gulliver’s World  Gemini retail park (IKEA, Marks and Spencer, Toys R Us)  LA Bowl

Farnworth Road located just off a main road in Penketh. It is an end terraced home in a row of approx. ten houses. It has an upholstery business next to it and at the other end of the terrace is a pub, ‘The Crown’. Across the road a residential development for retired people is being built which will incorporate apartments and supported living. It has a Co-Op across the road, an Indian take-away, a Beauty salon and within walking distance a chippy, hairdressers, barbers, pizza/ kebab take-away, and other local shops. There is a bus stop a short walk away that can take you straight into the center of Warrington in approx. 15-20 minutes on the 32A bus. The home has an upholstering shop next door that can be busy during the day-time. The business and the home are separated by an alleyway that leads to the back of the house; this is a well-used path as other residents and visitors to the street, park at the back of the houses and uses this path to get to the front of their homes.

Other local services at Honiston Way, less than 2 miles away, include a swimming pool based at Penketh Pool and Community centre, where as well as a pool they have fitness classes (http://www.penkethparishcouncil.co.uk/swimming_pool.html) and Local Library (http://www.livewirewarrington.co.uk/library/using-livewire- libraries/find-a-library) as well as other shops including a Yoga Centre, this is all within walking distance. The Olive Tree community center, less than 3 miles away also offers community classes, including Scouts /Brownies and dance classes (http://www.theolivetreecommunitycentre.co.uk/whats-on/for-children/). There are also opportunities locally to play amateur rugby, football, skate-board Park, Warrington Sport for all (http://sportforallcentres.co.uk/) offers netball and basketball clubs less than five miles away.

Health Services located near Farnworth road include Dentists, Opticians and GP’s Surgeries; Warrington Hospital is less than 3 miles away. There is a local GP surgery and a dentist less than two miles. The GUM clinic and teenage Sexual Health Clinic (YAS clinic) are located in the town centre and accessible via bus. The clinic is also held every Wednesday 6-8pm at Honiton Way – Penketh Clinic which is within walking distance to the home. Honiton Way also has a GP surgery, an opticians and a Pharmacy, all within walking distance. A CAMHS service is available within 6 miles.

Education services nearby include Primary and High Schools, Penketh High School is judged as requiring improvement. St. Gregory’s Catholic High School also requires improvement. Great Sankey High School is judged as Outstanding, a previous young person from the home has attended here. Grappenhall Hall School is a provision for children with Emotional and behavioral needs, six miles away, and this is judged as being a Good School. Across Warrington there are a number of high schools which have a school sixth form, two special schools with sixth form provision, a sixth form College and a further education college. There are also a variety of training providers that provide opportunities to gain qualifications, the local careers service provide support in accessing education and/or training including local apprenticeships. Collection of publicly available local data Warrington is in the County of Cheshire which has a population of over 1 million people of which 51.3% of the population were male and 48.7% were female.

Of those aged between 0–14 years, 51.5% were male and 48.4% were female

Ethnic white groups accounted for 97.3%, 1.7% Asian, 0.6% Black and 0.4% White Other

Local information on the demographics of the Penketh Ward of Warrington where can be seen here; http://www.warrington.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/7294/2014_penketh_and_cuer dley_ward_profile

The ward of Penketh, where Farnworth Road is located, shows the crime rate and the rate of anti-social behaviour is falling and is below the Warrington Average. According to data from the Warrington Community Safety Partnership the crime rate for Penketh stood at;

19.1 incidents per 1,000 local residents, compared with a Warrington rate of 47.7 incidents per 1,000 residents.

The antisocial behaviour (ASB) rate in Penketh show;

23.5 incidents per 1.000 local residents compared with a Warrington rate of 44.9 incidents per 1,000 residents.

The Penketh area shows significantly lower crime and anti-social behaviour incidents than the rest of Warrington.

Between April 2012 and March 2013 there were 158 children or young people in Cheshire that were identified as being at risk of or being sexually exploited. They were provided with a holistic support plan and targeted intervention to reduce the risk of harm (Pan Cheshire CSE strategy 2015-2017).

Over 300 children in Cheshire go missing on at least three occasions a year. Many of these children are children in care; these include children’s care homes operated by Local Authorities as well as by private care providers. It is also important to note that the majority of looked after children do not experience missing episodes. Moreover, most children in residential care do not go missing (Missing from Home Protocol April 2014).

In 2011, 71.6% of pupils living in Penketh achieved at least 5 GCSE passes at grades A*-C. This compares with a Warrington average of 64.8% and a National average of 58.3%.

The Penketh area has higher levels of GCSE passes A-C, which is higher than the Warrington average and almost 20% higher than the national average.

39.50% of Penketh residents aged 16+ were employed full-time at the time of the 2011 Census, compared with 42.70% for Warrington. A total of 2.80% were unemployed in Penketh, compared with 4% for Warrington; 2.60% were long-term sick or disabled within Penketh compared with 4.10% across Warrington. In Penketh 23.50% of residents were retired, 14.80% in Warrington.

Although there is a slightly lower average in Penketh of 16+ in full-time employment this figure will be affected by the almost double rate of retired people in the Penketh area compared to Warrington. There is significantly lower than average level of unemployment and sickness/disability in Penketh than in the rest of the borough of Warrington.

In 2010 there were 61 children in Penketh living in income-deprived households and 583 people were living in households dependent on means-tested benefits. Across Warrington 5,477 children were living in income-deprived households and 22,849 people were dependent on means-tested benefits.

Under the National Child Measurement Programme a child is classed as obese if they fall within the top 5% for Body Mass Index on the 1990 national child growth charts for a child of their sex and age. According to the Programme, 8.9% of reception year children measured in Penketh between 2009/10 and 2011/12 were obese, compared with 8.4% across Warrington. Amongst year 6 children measured, 19.7% were classed as obese in Penketh compared with 18.3% for Warrington. However, further data shows that Warrington as a whole performs above the National Average for children of a healthy weight and levels of obesity. (http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/national-child-measurement-programme/data)

Information from the Dept. of Local Government and communities (http://opendatacommunities.org/showcase/deprivation) give a ranking order from 1- 10 (a lower rank meaning that an area is most deprived) of deprivation in a postal area based on different data available.

The area of Penketh that the home is based is ranked overall as an 8.

All Domains 8

Income Domain 8

Employment Domain 6

Health and Disability Domain 6

Education, Skills and Training Domain 7

Barriers to housing and services Domain 8

Crime Domain 6

Living Environment Domain 7

Consultation with appropriate local services The Children’s home already has links within the local authority in order to consult about any local issues or individual issues with young people. The key links for local services are detailed below and their responses to consultation on the location report.

Local Key Individual and contact Feedback for assessment Service details Safeguarding Fiona Cowan If any concerns are raised about a (including Senior Conference & Review young person or about a location Missing from Manager / LADO [MSCETO Chair] Fiona ensures this is passed on Home, CSE) [email protected] where appropriate through the correct 01925 442079 channels. A member of the residential service management and also the service manager sit on the monthly MCSETO meeting. Crime PC M. Hay PC3914 Home visit by Officer on 10th February Local neighbourhood policing team 2015, no concerns to report, reported [email protected] that it is a low crime area. The force is .police.uk aware of the new regulations and if 0845 458 6385 they have individual concerns they will address these with the Homes Manager as appropriate. Local Gareth Jones (See Annexe 1) Probation / Head of Youth Offending Service Awaiting further advice as to who is YOT [email protected] the best person to offer this 0151 495 5840 information

Local School Melissa Young No concerns with locality or access to Head Teacher of the Virtual School local services. Melissa has agreed to [email protected] come to future staff meeting and 01925 442933/442917 discuss with staff her role. Melissa 07900880160 has also sent guidance to the home and a presentation overview of her role. Local Health Shan McParland No concerns with locality or access to Services Looked After Children Designated local services. Shan has agreed to Nurse come to future staff meetings and [email protected] discuss her role. Shan also responds 07824087425 to requests to come out and see young people when they have had a health concern or when staff have been concerned about the health needs of a child. Young People Young People living in the home (see Annexe 2) living in the One young person says that there are home no areas that they would avoid around Farnworth Road and there is nothing that staff could do to make them feel safer and the only area they would avoid is the chippy “because they are trying to lose weight!” Another young person said they feel safe “as the staff are so protective” and “it is ok but not amazing” but there is nothing more staff can do to make them feel safer. Safeguarding concerns There are no major concerns about the locality in which the home is based. There are low levels of crime, and the area is not highlighted by the local neighbourhood team or the MCSETO group as an area of concern.

There are no concerns of young people being drawn into gang crime or anti-social behaviour in the area as a result of the locality of the home. The home’s location does not increase the potential for children to be targeted for sexual exploitation, there are a number of take-aways and shops locally which research has evidenced have been hot spots for the grooming and exploitation of children, however, the area in which Farnworth Road is located has not been an area of concern at the local multi-agency CSE, Missing and Trafficking operational group where this information is collated.

Current areas of identified risk are concerns as to some environmental factors of the home. The first risk area is the close proximity of the pub, the back gate of the home opens onto an area that is used as a car park for the pub. There is potential for people using and exiting the pub to come into contact with the young people if they leave the home by the back gate. The young people usually only use this exit when they use the homes car with staff either going out or coming back in and they are usually with staff that have drove the car. The home has a main road in front of it and then behind the shops within walking distance is a dual carriageway road that is very busy, although the speed is strictly limited to 30 MPH and has speed cameras along it. The road does not pose a high risk as the young people are of an age where they can cross the road safely and they do not need to cross the dual carriageway to access local shops etc. Although there are waterways and a train station nearby these are not within the proximity of the home where they would pose a risk to the young people going about their day to day activities. Another risk area is the close proximity of local take-aways, although there has been no concern over these businesses raised at the multi-agency meeting it is an area of potential risk given current research. Another area of environmental risk is the building works taking place over the road. There is a use of plant machinery however; the site has clear health and safety notices and security on site 24hours a day.

The overall risk of the location of the home is assessed as being low risk. Risk Assessment and Risk Management Strategies Risk Risk management Probability Extent Overall risk strategies of harm of rating Risk factors Protective factors occurring current (1-9) Risk heightening factors (1-3) harm / 1-3 low hazard 3-6medium (1-3) 6-9 High Busy Road Young people are competent 1 1 1 Crossing the road may be a to cross the road and are risk to young people if they able to go out independently do not cross safely. and the road does not pose The road in front of the home any additional risk to their can be busier at different day to day activities. times of the day and is busier at the present time due to the construction opposite. If young people need to cross The dual carriage way is not the dual carriage way young usually crossed by the young people will be encouraged to people to access their daily cross at the pedestrian activities. crossings. Local Take-away Shops 1 1 1 CSE, Anti-social behaviour Young people have an Take-aways have been understanding and identified as venues where awareness of CSE and grooming and exploitation grooming however, they are can occur. both identified as vulnerable Local shops are also areas to these risks. Whilst where anti-social behaviour maintaining a balance of can occur. encouraging Independence There have been no raised and managing this risk young concerns from the MCSETO people will be offered staff group of the local take-aways company if they are going to or shops near to Farnworth the shop or to a take-away, if Road. young people are undertaking independence skills staff will note the length of time a young person has gone to the shop and will meet a young person at the shop if they have not returned after 15 minutes to ensure they are safe. Staff will record any concerns on the CSE observation log and this will be monitored and any patterns or concerns raised will result in additional actions – discussion with MCSETO chair, discussion with CSE Police Officer/ neighbourhood officer, update of individual risk assessment. Local Pub & pub car park

Anti-social behaviour There have been no reported 2 1 2 Crime incidents as a result of being Public disorder so close to the pub, other The close proximity of the than sometimes hearing pub and the car park to noise at night. Farnworth Road might mean If incidents do occur then this that the young people hear will be reported to the local noise and behaviour that neighbourhood officers and might cause them some the licensing department. concern given their The home has a security light backgrounds. as an intruder alert and also This will be more of a provides some light when problem on the weekends, at staff and young people are night or on public holidays exiting and returning to the when pubs tend to be busier. home from the car park. At these times the young The back gate of the home is people will be encouraged locked of an evening and this not to use the back gate of cannot be opened from the the home unless they are car park. accompanied by the staff. The young people tend only to use this entrance when they are going out or coming in from the car with the staff. The car park has lighting but this is poor, additionally the back of the home is lit with a security light but this provides light to the back of the home only. Building works

Heavy machinery The buildings work is 2 1 2 Roadwork’s expected to last until Construction site September 2015. The The building works can scheme has health and provide extra traffic in the safety notices and is daytime when machines and compliant with construction deliveries are coming and industry schemes to be good going to the home. However, neighbours and reduce the the site is closed from impact of the work on the 4:30pm and there is security neighbourhood. on site. At the early stage of the build the site was targeted by thieves who stole some machinery and it now has permanent security. Alley way at the side of the home Crime The young people do not Feeling uncomfortable / tend to use this walkway, 1 1 1 scared. The alleyway is used they would normally use the by the local neighbours and back gate to access the front community to get from the of the home. back of Farnworth road to the However, if this becomes a front as a short cut. The concern we could look at walkway is not lit and could improving the lighting in this potentially be a risk to young area with the use of a people of them feeling security light as a deterrent. worried if they have to use this.