Oxford News
Oxfordshire children care provider employed illegal staff
Gratia Cura Residential, in Park Road, Didcot, was hit with a £40,000 fine following an Immigration Enforcement investigation.
The business, registered as Gratia Cura Residential Ltd, was published in a recent list by the Government of businesses that had been found to have employed illegal workers.
No further details have bene released by Immigration Enforcement about the circumstances of the fine and who the business employed.
Gratia Cura Residential was approached for comment and further details, but no response was provided.
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The care company describes itself as a “dedicated specialist provision” for children aged seven to 17 years old with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
“We are committed to providing a nurturing environment where children can grow, thrive, and rediscover their potential,” its website says.
In its most recent Ofsted inspection carried out in April 2025, Gratia Cura Residential was rated as being ‘inadequate’.
“There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children are poor and they are not making progress,” Ofsted’s social care inspector Shaheda Dhandia said in a report about Gratia Cura Residential.
At the time of the report, the care provider was recruiting for a manager but Timothy Kosmala was the one responsible for the business.
Ofsted’s damning report on the care home said: “Two children have lived in the home since it registered with Ofsted in November 2024.
“Both children had short stays with unplanned endings. The children did not have the opportunity to develop positive relationships with staff.
“Overall, the standard of care they received did not support them to make sufficient progress.
“Children’s experiences have been poor. The staff failed to protect them from harm as they did not provide safe and consistent care.
“Children’s experiences were poor from moving in until when their care ended abruptly shortly after.
“Staff did not adequately understand the children’s needs. They did not consider the children’s previous experiences and the effect these have had on them.
“Staff did not read key plans from the placing authority that provide rich guidance on how to support the children.
“As a result, this led to the children being involved in serious incidents that placed them at significant risk of harm.
“The children’s emotional health needs were not understood well enough by staff. Staff did not access appropriate therapeutic support from external agencies to ensure that the children were protected from harm.
“As a result, the children were not supported to build positive relationships with staff or to develop the skills to manage their own difficult feelings.”