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WQ.113/2022
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR CHILDREN AND EDUCATION BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. JOHN
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 4th APRIL 2022
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 11th APRIL 2022
Question
In relation to Greenfields Children’s Centre (‘Greenfields’), will the Minister confirm the following –
- what due diligence has been undertaken to ensure that the independent expert working on improvements to Greenfields (who is the Deputy CEO of the Independent Children’s Home Association, who have described themselves as a politics lobbying organisation for the private residential care sector), has no conflicts of interest;
- whether the use of Greenfields is significantly higher than that of comparable facilities in the UK and if so, will the Minister explain why this is the case; and
- how many times the Police have been called to assist at Greenfields in the last four months?
Answer
- There is no conflict of interest as the independent expert working at Greenfields is an independent consultant and is not employed by the Independent Children’s Homes Association.
- There are no directly comparable facilities in the UK, so we are not able to benchmark the use of Greenfields Secure Children’s Homes with the use of other Secure Children’s Homes across the UK.
- The Police have attended on 11 occasions in the past 4 months.
It is not unusual for police to attend any secure children's home setting where young people may be residing, either to secure their safety and welfare or due to remand reasons. There is a need for the Minister to protect all children's sensitive and personal information for those in his care. In that respect, and in the knowledge that the children living in Greenfields are our most vulnerable children, the reasons for the police attending Greenfields vary, and are not all related to the same presenting challenges each time. The safety of the residents of Greenfields and the need to protect them is the ultimate aim, and sometimes it is necessary for the police to assist in this respect.