Capricorn Excellence
Social Care Consultancy, Governance & Professional Services
From first registration through to ongoing Regulation 44 visits and statutory assessments, led by a team with direct, current experience of registering and running Ofsted-regulated children's homes, and frontline experience supporting young people's transition to independence.
Pick a single service or an ongoing retainer — every engagement starts with a fixed-scope proposal. Full detail on each service is set out below.
End-to-end support through the Ofsted registration process — business plan development, Statement of Purpose writing, policy suite build, and premises and safeguarding readiness — drawn directly from having taken Capricorn Care NW's own homes through registration.
Since the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023, providers offering semi-independent accommodation to 16 and 17 year old looked-after children and care leavers must register with Ofsted and meet four Quality Standards — leadership and management, protection, accommodation, and support. We help you register and prepare a compliant Statement of Purpose covering accommodation type, staffing, support model and referral criteria. This is a newly regulated area with limited established consultancy support, and one we have direct frontline transition-team experience of.
An independent walk-through of the home ahead of your registration inspection, checking premises, documentation and staff readiness against what Ofsted will actually look for.
A realistic rehearsal of the Registered Manager and Responsible Individual registration interviews, with structured feedback so you go into the real interview prepared rather than guessing.
Independent visitor visits commissioned directly by your home, as required under the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015. Reports are thorough, evidenced and genuinely useful for driving improvement — not a box-ticking exercise.
A structured review of practice, records and outcomes across the home, identifying strengths and risks before they show up at inspection.
Audits benchmarked directly against the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and Quality Standards, or the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 Quality Standards for supported accommodation providers, with a clear action plan for anything that falls short.
Independent interviews with children and young people who go missing from care or from home, carried out separately from the placing authority and the provider to ensure an honest, unpressured account.
Independent investigation of safeguarding concerns, complaints or serious incidents, with a clear, evidenced report and recommendations.
Independent, reflective supervision for Registered Managers and senior staff, separate from internal line management.
Support with recruiting, inducting and retaining residential care staff, including safer recruitment practice.
Practical, audit-ready recording systems for daily logs, incidents and care planning that stand up to inspection scrutiny.
Monitoring tools that give Registered Managers and Responsible Individuals early sight of emerging issues, rather than finding out at the next audit.
A full, up-to-date policy suite reflecting current legislation and best practice, written for daily use by staff rather than filed away for inspection.
Support processing and tracking DBS checks for staff and volunteers as part of safer recruitment.
One-to-one coaching and mentoring for Registered Managers and Responsible Individuals, particularly useful when stepping into a new role or preparing for inspection.
Bespoke and statutory CPD training for residential staff teams, covering safeguarding, therapeutic care and regulatory requirements.
Statutory assessments under the Children Act 1989/2004 — including child in need and section 47 assessments — carried out by qualified social workers with direct frontline experience.
Clear, evidenced reports for family court and tribunal proceedings, written to the standard the court expects.
Expert witness statements for family and tribunal proceedings, prepared by qualified, Social Work England-registered social workers.
A first call is free and there's no obligation — we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit before anything else.
Book your free call