Thread by @MartinBarrow

Shocking revelations concerning a children's home in Lancashire run by the private company Gracewells Care Ltd, from an Ofsted inspection report uploaded today files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/501599…

This home is for three children who have been the victims of criminal and sexual exploitation. It is clear that they continue to be exploited while living here. Ofsted's damning verdict:

This child is just 13.

This child is 16.

Where are the home's carers? Well..

And...

Children subjected to physical harm by untrained, unsupervised staff who, or may not, have a DBS check. Who knows? Who cares?

This home registered in May during the first wave of the pandemic, even though it was/is clearly not fit for purpose. This isn't scientific, but my insight is that in the rush to find homes for children, bad things have happened.

Remember that these are the Ofsted regulated homes. There are also many new providers of unregulated accommodation since the pandemic began.

I have not come across Gracewells before and I can't find out much about them. There is certainly nothing to suggest experience with children who are victims of criminal and sexual abuse.

Provision of children's home (regulated and unregulated) is like the wild west right now. With average weekly fees of more than £4,000 per child, anything goes.