MP expresses “deep concern” about children’s home

Heywood and Middleton MP Chris Clarkson

Heywood and Middleton MP Chris Clarkson has written to the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, to express his concern about a children’s home run by Rochdale Council as he calls on the Council to “work night and day” to implement the necessary action to ensure that the most vulnerable children are kept safe.

The home, which was visited by OFSTED officials last month and cannot be named for legal reasons, has been served with a restriction notice and stopped from supporting any more children until serious improvements are made to its services.

In his letter to the Education Secretary, the MP expressed his concern that: “Children who are at risk of child sexual exploitation are housed in this home and were discovered to have regularly been missing for lengthy periods of time.”

The MP has also urged the Council to take “immediate action” to address findings that staff do not have the skills and knowledge to ensure that children are always protected, had failed to search for children who were missing and were not notifying the relevant authorities about incidents of this nature.

Mr Clarkson has asked the Education Secretary to raise the findings in this report directly with Rochdale Council as “a matter of urgency” to ensure that the necessary actions and recommended measures are put in place.

The Heywood and Middleton MP has pledged to follow developments closely and has said that “we must stop at nothing” to ensure that the most vulnerable young people in our communities are kept safe.

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