Children under the care of a foster agency in Harrow are 'not protected or safeguarded' due to 'serious and widespread failures' at the company, according to the education watchdog. Ofsted rated Thrive Fostering Ltd 'Inadequate' in all areas following an inspection in early March. It was the agency's first inspection since being registered in 2025 and was providing care for eight children at the time.
Poor Care and Lack of Progress
The care and experiences of children and young people in fostering households were described in the report as 'poor' and they 'are not making progress'. It also highlighted an ongoing investigation after a recent allegation was made against a foster carer, which meant the agency had to take appropriate action to safeguard the affected children.
Thrive Fostering is an independent fostering agency that provides care for individual children and sibling groups, including emergency, respite, short-term and long-term placements. When the inspection was carried out, the agency had 10 approved fostering households.
Leadership and Management Failures
The report described the leadership and management at the fostering service as 'inadequate' and systems that ensure the safety and wellbeing of children as lacking 'oversight and clarity'. Inspectors found that this meant that children's progress and experiences 'are compromised'.
Inspectors did note that children have positive experiences and there are 'early signs of progress', however, the report adds: 'Staff fail to obtain local authority care plans and do not devise agency support plans. This means that leaders do not have effective measures to consider children's progress or highlight if children need additional support.'
The leadership was also criticised as they 'do not consistently obtain full vetting for staff'; in one example managers failed to evidence the formal qualifications of a staff member. They could not accurately verify all staff's current Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks so could not confirm that newly appointed staff are suitable to work with children.
Relative Wasn't DBS Checked
Similarly, the quality of some foster carers' assessments were described in the report as 'poor' as they 'do not fully explore key safeguarding issues', meaning it can't be confirmed that all prospective carers are suitable to care for children.
The report adds: 'Leaders and managers do not ensure that checks and actions identified for prospective foster carers to complete as a condition of their approval are achieved. In one case, a foster care applicant was recommended for approval by the fostering panel prior to the completion of key checks. This included staff failing to obtain a DBS check for the applicant's relative, who was a frequent visitor to the home.'
'The information and guidance provided to the panel were inadequate, and the carer was approved by the agency despite these shortfalls. This does not ensure the safety and wellbeing of children.'
Positive Aspects Noted
Despite the shortfalls highlighted, children were said to benefit from careful introductions with their foster families and the move to new homes is 'sensitively coordinated'. Children 'settle quickly' and feel they are part of their new families.
The report adds: 'The fostering service encourages children's physical, emotional and social wellbeing. Children access primary healthcare services and receive advice and support from specialist services when appropriate.'
Improvement Plan Underway
Inspectors highlighted a number of areas where the agency must make improvements. The agency has already put an improvement plan in place and undertaken a number of immediate actions since the inspection. These include reviewing and strengthening all risk assessments for children in placement; taking steps to obtain local authority care plans; a full audit of all staff vetting and DBS records; and a full review of the foster carer approval and panel process.
Thrive Fostering told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the agency accepts the judgements 'in full' and recognised that the inspection had identified significant areas where 'our governance, recording practices, and quality assurance processes fell short of the standards that children in foster care deserve'.
It added: 'We do not seek to minimise or dispute the findings. The safety and welfare of the children in our care is our primary responsibility, and where systems have failed to meet that standard, we are accountable.'
'Thrive Fostering Services was founded on a genuine commitment to providing outstanding care for looked-after children. We are a small, young agency and we acknowledge that our growth must be matched by the governance infrastructure necessary to keep children safe. We are taking every statutory requirement set out in the Ofsted report with the seriousness it demands, and we will meet every compliance deadline set.'
'We will continue to work transparently with Ofsted throughout the improvement process and will proactively engage with monitoring arrangements. Our priority remains the welfare of the children currently placed with our agency, all of whom continue to receive safe and nurturing care from our foster families.'
Harrow Council was approached for comment but did not respond ahead of publication.
