New Milton Advertiser 4th Dec 2020

2 · Friday 4th December 2020

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‘Serious weaknesses’ in BCP children’s services

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VULNERABLE children have been put at risk by “serious and widespread weaknesses” in the BCP Council children’s services department, a scathing report has warned. Ofsted inspectors said work to identify youngsters at risk of harm was “not fit for purpose” and that they had to personally ask for 50 children’s cases to be Ofsted inspectors raised fears for kids’ safety during visit BY JOSH WRIGHT

reviewed during their visit due to fears for their safety, writes Josh Wright of the Local Democ- racy Reporting Service . The council said it “accepts and regrets” the watchdog’s criticisms and its chief execu- tive said addressing them had been made its “top corporate priority”.

was “no evidence” it was chal- lenging schools on the issue, amid fears schools could be “off-rolling” pupils by encour- aging children to leave without excluding them to benefit the school. The council was also crit- icised for an “over-reliance” on short-term staff with 55 agency workers employed at the time of the visit, while many of the others lacked expe- rience. Responding to Ofsted’s find - ings, BCP Council said it had been “working hard” since its formation to improve its work but said it still had “a long way to go”. “This visit from Ofsted was not an inspection, but we are responding to their recommen- dations with the same serious- ness and gravity as if it were,” it said in a statement. “We know we have to improve rapidly if our services to local children and families are to meet the standards expected of us.” Cllr Mike White, cabinet member for children’s services, said improving the department was the council’s “top immedi- ate priority”. He added: “It will stay that way until we have made the improvements we need to make. “We have confidence in the new top team to deliver those improvements and as well as supporting them to the hilt, we will be holding them to account to do just that.” Cllr White’s predecessor, Cllr Sandra Moore, who held the role from the formation of the council until October, said she would continue to support the council to make “critical im- provements”. of management and control is ongoing. “Despite the facility being closed due to lockdown 2, there have been 16 instances that I am aware of where users have scaled the fence, trespassed and used it, in any event.” She called on the trust to “do the right thing” and suggested a good starting point would be a meeting with residents. She said the further complaint to NFDC had been made by some- one else. Opened around two years ago, the muga is used by chil- dren’s groups, sports teams and for charity events. It was built after the community raised £63,000. Depending on the sea- son, it closes at either 8pm or 5pm, and there is a code of con- duct banning swearing. fered a fall at the home and was taken to Salisbury hospital that medics found he had contract- ed Legionnaires’ disease. Public Health England and the CQC found the presence of Legionnaires’ in “a number” of rooms at Fordingbridge Care Home that had placed staff and other residents at risk. The court heard the Station Road building was newly con- structed and opened in 2012, but it had run into a host of problems, including with the plumbing. Defence barrister JasonLeon- ard said Sentinel offered Andy’s family an apology. He added it had policies in place and had worked with Totton-based Freeston Water Treatment Ltd to try to address some of the issues. The care home building suf- fered problems because “infe- rior pipework” was installed when it was built, Mr Leonard claimed, which contributed to “poor flow” through its water systems. Mr Leonard highlighted Sen- tinel had no previous convic- tions, co-operated with investi- gators and had received ‘good’ CQC inspection ratings since Andy’s death. our plans with the local com- munity and are keen to hear what people think.” The online meeting will take place between 5.30pm and 7pm. Visit www.brockhillslane.co.uk and click on the event link.

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Elaine Redding was appoint- ed as its interim director of chil- dren’s services at the council in September following the depar- ture of Judith Ramsden in July. At the same time, prompted by government concerns, an improvement advisor was ap- pointed in a bid to address is- sues within the department.

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BCP Council said it ‘accepts and regrets’ the findings

Inspectors were particularly critical of management within the department with assess- ments with blank sections and unchecked details being signed off as acceptable. “There are serious concerns about the quality of manage- ment oversight,” the letter said, before adding inspectors had personally had to ask for 50 cas- es to be reviewed over “serious concerns” for children’s safety. Mr Penswick added that chil- dren in care, and those who had recently left the system, felt “let down” by the council and had had “minimal” contact leaving them feeling “alone, isolated and unsupported”. Education plans written by social workers were said to “in- clude little of any substance” and there was also concern about the number of children being excluded from school. Concerns were also raised about the almost 25% rise in the number of youngsters be- ing home-schooled in the past year and that there was not the capacity within the council to carry out the correct checks on them. The letter added that there

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Care firm fined Continued from front page village hall and other facilities on site not only serve the com- munity, but continually seek to work in harmony with that community and particularly its neighbours.” The trust was unhappy to be criticised by Judge Callaway over potential planning breach- es. It said the application cited during the case had been su- perseded by a new one which had been approved by the na- tional park authority, including removing fencing. A booking system and CCTV had also been installed, it point- ed out. “We tried to raise concerns with the company but felt that there was reluctance for them to accept any responsibil- ity.” After his death the family en- listed law firm Irwin Mitchell to represent them at an inquest and make a civil claim against Sentinel. The inquest jury at Salisbury Coroners’ Court con- cluded Andy died from Legion- naires’ bacteria contracted at the Fordingbridge home. Nicholas Rheinberg, Salis- bury assistant coroner, asked the CQC to investigate and re- view the training it gives to wa- ter safety inspectors. Matt added: “While we’re pleased to have secured justice for Andy, we would rather he still be part of our family. Our only hope now is that Andy’s death reminds Sentinel and other companies of the need to uphold safety standards at all times so others don’t have to suffer like he did.” Andy was a former hunt sab- oteur and had once been drum- mer in a psychedelic rock band NewMilton housing Continued from front page BCP Council has yet to have a full inspection by Ofsted since its formation last year but all three of its preceding councils had been rated as ‘requires im- provement’. The visit by a team of five inspectors last month was a shorter “focused inspection” with a letter sent to the council on Friday addressing its find - ings. “There are serious and wide- spread weaknesses in the quality of children’s services,” inspector Neil Penswick said. “This leaves vulnerable children at risk of harm.” A raft of concerns are raised in the letter, with children hav- ing their needs addressed nei- ther “fully or in a timely man- ner” despite repeated referrals to the department. The letter said the “vast ma- jority” of assessments made by social workers were “unfit for purpose” and that they “lack sufficient evidence, analysis and challenge”. The council was also criti- cised for putting too little fo- cus on the longer term needs of children. ment New Milton had seen in the last 20 years. He said the council welcomed the level of affordable hous- ing, a pledge which he stressed must be honoured. “There is also a number of ecological issues,” Cllr Clarke continued. “The Danestream is located to the right of the site just beyond the boundary and, as I understand it, is protect- ed. We will be looking closely at how that’s managed.” A Pennyfarthing spokesper- son said the site would com- prise an “appropriate mix of house sizes and tenures”, and public open space with “excel- lent leisure and biodiversity en- hancement opportunities”. They continued: “Over the last few months we have been working hard to further im- prove our plans for land off Play park decision Continued from front page

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It also stressed prior to the case reaching the courts it made “several unsuccessful at- tempts” to reach an “amicable settlement” with Mrs Sampson and took a number of meas- ures to address issues she had raised. The trust added it would take seriously any complaint about alleged noise to New Forest District Council’s environmen- tal health department. Mrs Sampson told the A&T she was “very disap- pointed” with the judgement, but pleased it highlight- ed “shortcomings” in the trust’s obligations under the planning process for the facility. She added: “The judge states that currently the muga is not properly managed. This failure Brockhills Lane. We believe we can bring forward an attractive, high quality development in this location that will provide much-needed housing for local people. “We look forward to sharing

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Andy Clegg died aged 56

that played a Stonehenge festi- val. Andy’s sister Joanne Denyer said his family witnessed him die an “agonising death” at hos- pital. When the matter went be- fore Southampton magistrates, Ryan Donoghue, representing the CQC, explained Andy’s family put him into a care home because he had a number of underlying health problems – including a degenerative brain disease. It was only after Andy suf-

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