The scale of historic sexual abuse suffered by children in Lambeth Council’s care is ‘hard to comprehend’, according to a new report that says hundreds were victims of a ‘toxic power game’ between the local authority and central government.
Published on July 27, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s (IICSA) report found a staggering level of unchecked abuse over at least four decades.
One of the largest homes, Shirley Oaks, had been the subject of allegations against 177 members of staff or individuals connected with the home, with at least 529 former residents saying they had been victims. The home closed in 1983.
By June 2020, 705 people who had lived in just three of Lambeth’s largest care homes said they had suffered sexual abuse. Yet in over 40 years only one senior employee had been disciplined. Even now, only six people have ever been convicted for sexual abuse.
It was not only in homes where children were being abused; with the report detailing how, over many years, foster carers were not subject to routine checks or adequate vetting. When a review of all placements was eventually carried out, half of all foster carers on the council’s books were removed – and this only happened in 2000.
The report’s authors are also calling for a criminal investigation to be considered in the case of a child who was found dead in a bathroom at Shirley Oaks in 1977. Lambeth Council had not informed the Coroner at the time that the victim had alleged his ‘house father’ had sexually abused him.
Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the inquiry, said: “Over several decades children in residential and foster care suffered levels of cruelty and sexual abuse that are hard to comprehend.
“These children became pawns in a toxic power game within Lambeth Council and between the council and central government.
“For many years bullying, intimidation, racism, nepotism and sexism thrived within the council, and all against a backdrop of corruption and financial mismanagement.
“There was a vicious and regressive culture, for which a succession of leading elected members were mainly responsible, aided and abetted in some instances by self-serving senior officials.
“This all contributed to allowing children in their care to suffer the most horrendous sexual abuse, with just one senior council employee disciplined for their part in it.
“We hope this report and our recommendations will ensure abuse on this scale never happens again.”
Abuse is also alleged to have taken place in homes for children with disabilities and complex needs, such as at Ivy House, Monkton Street and Chestnut Road.
It highlights that the true number of victims may never be known but is likely far higher than officially recorded; with many of the children in their care also experiencing horrific racism from abusive staff.
Between 1965 and 2000, around 15,000 children were placed in Lambeth Council’s care, with more than 9,000 of those placed in its children’s homes. Between 1965 and 1994 it ran 33 children’s homes. Just a fraction of them are analysed in the report.
It found that sexual and physical abuse in its homes was able to thrive in part due to the chaotic nature of the local authority during the 1980s in particular.
It criticises the then Labour-run council for focusing its attention on taking on Thatcher’s government and being mired within ‘corruption and financial mismanagement which permeated much of the council’s operations’.
Upon the report’s publication, Lambeth Council’s leader Claire Holland said: “On behalf of all elected Members and staff, Lambeth Council wishes to restate our sincere and heartfelt apology to all victims and survivors of abuse and neglect while in Lambeth’s care.
“The council was responsible for their care and protection but failed, with profound consequences. The council is deeply sorry for their experiences.
“As the report sets out, the council of the past failed to protect many of its most vulnerable children. A disproportionate number of those children were from black, Asian and multi-ethnic backgrounds.
“The extent and scale of the horrendous abuse, which took place over many decades, remains deeply shocking.
“The council failed to acknowledge concerns when they arose, often failed to believe children when they disclosed abuse and then failed to take effective action. That so many children and adults were not believed compounded their experiences and caused further pain and distress with lifelong impacts.
“The council takes responsibility for contributing to conditions in which adults were able to abuse with apparent impunity.
The council has cooperated fully and transparently with IICSA, in order to understand what happened to the children in our care and examine the institutional failings; and to reflect and learn from the findings to ensure such events never happen again.”