A secure children’s home near Bristol is “already improving” two months after a damning Ofsted report, council bosses claim.
Last week it emerged that Vinney Green, in Emersons Green, had been using “unlawful and painful” physical restraints on children. Ofsted published its report slamming the institute for young offenders run by South Gloucestershire Council, after an inspection in April.
The council’s cabinet has now promised conditions at the home are getting better, outside experts have been brought in to change the home’s culture, and Ofsted has since been back to reinspect the home. But opposition councillors remained concerned.
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During a cabinet meeting on Monday, June 13, Cllr Pat Rooney, Labour group leader, said council chiefs had previously slammed Labour councillors for raising concerns about children’s homes in South Gloucestershire.
She said: “This administration has criticised the Labour group for raising our genuine concerns about performance in children’s services, including Vinney Green, for years, including as recently as a few weeks ago at a council meeting. Now we read about unlawful restraints that have caused children genuine pain, illegal solitary confinement lasting three days, and staff entering children’s bedrooms without knocking first.”
Cllr Maggie Tyrell, Liberal Democrat deputy group leader, added: “We’re obviously deeply worried by the report, but also by the fact we’ve previously received reassurances that work at the unit was satisfactory and improving. Now we receive further reassurances that measures have been put in place to address the issues that have emerged in this latest report.”
Ofsted rated Vinney Green, the secure youth custody unit, as inadequate, and criticised its leaders for “repeated failures”, after a three-day inspection from April 20 to 22. The unit houses children who are considered “too vulnerable to be placed elsewhere in the youth custodial estate”.
But according to Cllr Sam Bromiley, cabinet member for children and young people, the situation at the home is already improving. Ofsted inspectors have recently been back to the home and a new report is expected to be published soon.
He said: “We take this feedback and the report very seriously, because our role first and foremost is to protect young people who live at Vinney Green. Between that inspection and today, staff across South Gloucestershire Council and Vinney Green have worked hard to embed improvements, and there’s an investigation ongoing into the issues raised by Ofsted.
“We have also secured external support from experts in the field, who will work with us and the staff at Vinney Green to change the culture in the home. Vinney Green is full of hard-working dedicated staff. Working in a secure home is not easy, and we’ll work to ensure that staff have all the tools and knowledge they need to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“The young people of Vinney Green will be our focus in improvement work. Regardless of their actions which may have led them to Vinney Green, they are vulnerable young people. The Ofsted report did speak on the positive relationship between staff and young people, with a particular focus on health and education teams. This is the culture we want to embed across the home.
“We’re now almost two months since that original inspection and I’m confident that the improvements needed are already well underway. Last week Ofsted visited Vinney Green for a re-inspection, and I look forward to this visit being published which will demonstrate the great work done by staff and leadership since April [the previous Ofsted inspection].”
