Location Risk Assessment Registered Manager Roy Boulton Updated 21.05.19 CONTENTS A. Introduction - Legislative Background. Our Responsibility B. Description of the Home. C. Location of the Home. D. Heysham House: Risk and Risk Management Heysham Home Security: Risks and Risk Management. Heysham Village: Risk and Risk Management. Security Risk Assessment Table. The Barrows: Risk and Risk management. Location Risk Assessment Table. Morecambe Bay: Risk and Risk Management. Location Risk Assessment Table. Lancaster: Risk and Risk Management. Location Risk Assessment Table. E. Places of Worship. F. Public Transport and Route Locations. G. Education and Supporting Education. Other Care Providers HI. Health Care Services. JK. Further identified Risks and Managing Strategies to Support in Minimising Risks. L. L.1 Heysham: Identified resources to support children. L.2 Morecambe: Identified resources to support children. L.3 Lancaster: Identified resources to support children. L.4 Salt Ayre: Identified resources to support children. L.5 Pine Lake: Identified resources to support children. L.6 Surrounding area: Identified resources to support children. M. Heysham area: Crime statistics. Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD Charts) for Lancaster and its districts including Morecambe and Heysham. N. Morecambe area Crime statistics. O. Lancaster area Crime statistics. PQ. Consultations with identified services and agencies (Log). R. Questionnaire’s. Updated 21.05.19 Introduction – Legislative Background All children, whether they are looked after or with 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 the local authorities who place children into a children’s home. 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. Location safety 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. Updated 21.05.19 Our Responsibility at Heysham House Better equipping the children’s home’s staff members to make judgments about local risks, manage challenging behaviour and keeping children safe is an important element. Workforce training, support and knowledge is therefore critical to the success in running a safe home. It is acknowledged that there are limitations of mapping in capturing a ‘dynamic picture’ but considerations such as crime 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. Regulation 46 of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015 places this statutory requirement, discussed above, on children’s homes to review the suitability of their location on an annual basis. 46.— (1) The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (2) When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person Updated 21.05.19 Description of the Home Heysham House was registered as a children’s home on the 8th January 2016. Heysham House is a detached property within a residential neighbourhood; it has 5 bedrooms and can accommodate up to 5 children both boys and girls from the ages of 11-18. All bedrooms remain as single child occupancy with the children having a key to their own bedroom and the staff as a team having sets of master keys to access all areas of the home. The children may have emotional, behavioural and social difficulties and the children’s home is fully regulated by OFSTED. The children’s home accommodates children 365 days of the year via 52-week placements, dependent on their individual circumstances surrounding educational needs and the contact plans in place. The mix of children within the home allow social interactions and independent growth and provides support and opportunities for the child placed. Within the home and surrounding areas, the children can socialise via social structured activities and during free time dependent on their level of independence and risk assessment. The Home is located on the outskirts of Heysham village, that being approximately 4 minutes from the A683.The north face of the house is overlooking a local cricket club, this has the large cricket field and a social club owned by the cricket community of Heysham. The south side of Heysham House is an open garden attached to for the children to enjoy the facilities and the safe space. There are fences surrounding the garden providing appropriate boundaries for the local residents/neighbours that also live in the community surrounding Heysham house. The east side of Heysham House leads you on an incline up Berwick Way, this route comprises of residential properties leading to School Road; again, another residential area. Taking School Lane to the left has a primary school situated surrounded by residential houses, taking School Lane to the right will lead towards the A683. The village of Heysham is situated on the outskirts of Morecambe Bay and close to the City of Lancaster. These areas have the facilities to provide the children with opportunities that will support their interest and hobbies offering a variety of venues to allow the children to engage with the communities that also surround them. Recreational clubs such as air cadets, football, cricket, rugby clubs, equine centres and a variety of fitness and fun activities are available at Salt Ayre leisure centre. Dancing, drama and singing classes are also available within the local community. A little further afield are opportunities at Pine Lake and the Lake District to support orienteering, water sports and walking clubs for children that have a desire to explore more outdoors activities. Updated 21.05.19 Location of the Home The home is located on Berwick Way; a quiet street that drops down to a small community of houses to the left and right of the home. The road is not busy and its peak times for local traffic is predominantly for cars parking to collect the children from the Primary School on School Road, and of a weekend again predominantly for parking when the village cricket club has training or a set match. The road is often quiet and clear posing low risks for the children leaving the home and walking on the pedestrian pathways. As stated above Heysham House is located in the small village of Heysham but the home is a short walk to a number of good public transportation opportunities for the children in supporting their independence, accessing the train at the Harbour and the bus stop on Middleton Road which is around a two minute walk from the home. The home also has access to two vehicles that will allow the children to travel further afield and access more opportunities. Public transport can allow children access to the City of Lancaster, offering a variety of activities as well as Preston, Blackpool, and Manchester, even as far as London on direct train routes. For more direct routes such as these, Lancaster is the central location to meet these connections, which is approximately a 30-minute bus ride. Within the close proximity of the home, the children can access recreational areas such as a playing field, local parks and foot trails within a wooded area and beach walks by the sea side with some spectacular views of the Lakelands. There is also the village of Heysham, this area has amenities such as cafés and small convenience stores, a small public house, St. Peter’s church and a community hall. Heysham village according to the census (2011) has a population of 7,264. Heysham lies on the North West coast of England, a long narrow strip of land on the seaward of the peninsular between the River Lune and Morecambe Bay, stretching from Middleton Sands to the Battery point. Morecambe Bay is a town next to Heysham village.