RNIB chief quits after sex claim at children’s home
THE chief executive of the Royal National Institute of Blind People resigned yesterday after an allegation of a ‘sexual nature’ was made at one of its children’s homes.
Sally Harvey – who was only appointed in October – stepped down after the Charity Commission said it was opening an inquiry into the RNIB and its subsidiary, RNIB Charity, which runs the residential centre.
The commission said the investigation was triggered by ‘serious concerns about the oversight and management’ of the Pears Centre for Specialist Learning near Coventry. The charity has reported a string of ‘serious incidents’ over the course of the past year, including an allegation of a ‘sexual nature’.
The Charity Commission said the incidents raised concerns that the RNIB may have ‘consistently failed to comply with regulations designed to safeguard and protect vulnerable children’.
The Pears Centre is a school and children’s home for young people who are blind or partially sighted and who also have multiple learning or physical disabilities.
The allegation of a ‘ sexual nature’, which was made in February, was reported to the authorities, but the charity said it understood the police were taking no further action.
The charity could not confirm whether any staff members had been sacked or suspended as a result but said it would be undertaking its own investigation.
Other safeguarding concerns are understood to relate to the provision of complex medicine regimes to children with disabilities. Ofsted rated the Pears Centre ‘inadequate’ in its most recent report in November last year. The report said: ‘Safeguarding is ineffective. The proprietor and governors have not ensured that systems are coordinated and cohesive, accessible and robust.’ Earlier this month Ofsted gave the RNIB notice that it would withdraw the children’s home registration unless there were significant changes.
The Charity Commission, which is the regulator of charities in England and Wales, said it would be working with Ofsted and other agencies during the investigation.
Eleanor Southwood, the chairman of the RNIB, said last night the charity had ordered an urgent review and it was deeply concerned by the allegations.
‘We have a plan that will support the children first and foremost, and in the longer term will make sure that this can never happen again,’ she said.
‘I am profoundly sorry that we have let down a group of children whose families have entrusted them to our care.
‘We have been very clear that we can and will take disciplinary action where we need to.’
The Charity Commission’s investigation will examine the safeguarding arrangements of both RNIB charities, including the trustees’ knowledge and oversight of what happened at the Pears Centre.
Harvey Grenville, the commission’s head of investigations, said: ‘The priority of the trustees of both charities must now be to ensure the vulnerable young people cared for at the centre are protected from harm. The charities have already taken some immediate steps in order to do so.’
The investigation into the RNIB comes amid questions about the management of other charities, including Oxfam, which has been criticised over allegations of abuse and sexual exploitation of vulnerable people.