Clare Lodge: Children not protected at UK's only home of its type

Ofsted said there were "serious and widespread failures" at Clare Lodge, an all-female welfare-only secure home

Serious and widespread failures mean young residents are not protected at the UK's only children's home of its type, inspectors have found.

Ofsted said there were "shortfalls in the effectiveness of leadership" at Clare Lodge in Peterborough, an all-female welfare-only secure home.

Staff were "exhausted by the demands that they face daily", inspectors said.

A Peterborough City Council spokeswoman said it accepted Ofsted's findings and had an action plan.

Clare Lodge can accommodate up to 16 children aged between 10 and 17, but at the time of the inspection earlier this year there were five residents.

Ofsted said: "There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress."

Inspectors found the "lack of management oversight and poor care planning decisions" meant children were not receiving the levels of care required.

"This was particularly evident when a child whose needs were assessed as beyond the scope of the home was admitted at the direction of senior managers in the local authority.

"This had a significant and detrimental impact on children and staff who were already struggling. It led to a poor care experience and another failed placement for the child."

'Staff unhappy'

The report said "staff were seen doing their best under very difficult and challenging circumstances", but spoke of a lack of support from managers "who have very little presence, even when things are at their most challenging".

A child told inspectors: "Staff are always talking about how unhappy they are and that they are looking for other jobs," adding: "How do you think this makes me feel knowing that even the staff do not want to be here?"

A spokeswoman for the home's registered provider, Peterborough City Council, said: "We accept the findings of the report and take Ofsted's recommendations seriously, including those related to management oversight.

"We have developed a robust action plan to address the issues highlighted by the inspectors and are working directly with Clare Lodge and Ofsted to deliver improvements.

"These include providing additional management capacity and other specialist support to bolster the existing team, and addressing the difficulties we and other local authorities have experienced recruiting to these highly specialised roles."

When asked about the future of Clare Lodge, the spokeswoman said: "Our immediate focus is on addressing the compliance notices and the longer-term work to bring the unit up to an improved standard."

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, which provides physical health checks and mental health therapy at Clare Lodge, said: "We take these findings very seriously and are working with the council to support the action plan now in place."