(UNITED KINGDOM)
Charity Times [London, England]
July 15, 2024
Safeguarding processes at two linked charities have been criticised by the Charity Commission in the aftermath of an abuse scandal at a religious school where monks were found to have abused children as young as seven.
Safeguarding failures were found at St Laurence Educational Trust, which runs independent school Ampleforth College on the site of Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire.
Failures were also found at Ambleforth Abbey Trust, which manages the Abbey and whose monks provide chaplaincy and teaching to pupils.
These safeguarding weaknesses “put students at the college at risk of harm”, according to the Commission.
Among failures was “ineffective communication between the charities”, this includes ineffective support from their safeguarding committees at the time.
The slow pace of improvements to safeguarding at St Laurence Educational Trust exposed children to “risks of harm and the college to reputational harm”.
Meanwhile, trustees at Ampleforth Abbey Trust, who were all from the monastic community, were found to lack “sufficient expertise and oversight”.
Safeguarding record keeping at the Abbey Trust was found to be “poor” and trustees “were not adequately managing safeguarding risks to pupils”.
An Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in 2018 details the “appalling” abuse committed, mostly by monks, at Ampleforth School and another independent Catholic school Downside.
Ten individuals had either been convicted or cautioned for sexual offences or offences concerning pornography at the two schools.
This includes abuse by Father Piers Grant-Ferris, who was convicted of 20 counts of indecent assault against 15 boys at Ampleforth.
Abuse of pupils at the school happened over decades, found the report, with one victim from the 1960s describing his abuser at Ampleforth as “an out and out sadist”.
The IICSA report warned that “the true scale of the abuse however is likely to be considerably higher”.
Since the scandal the charities have put in place governance reviews and recruited experienced safeguarding professionals, which are “positive steps towards improving safeguarding culture”, says the Commission.
The regulator also notes that St Laurence Educational Trust has since received a ‘Good’ Ofsted inspection report and the Abbey Trust has successfully passed an audit by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency.
But the Commission warns that there is a need at both charities for “continued vigilance and robust safeguarding measures to protect vulnerable individuals”.
The Commission’s head of investigations Amy Spiller added: “The inquiry found several weaknesses and failures in the approach to and handling of safeguarding matters across both charities which exposed pupils to risk of harm.
“We expect safeguarding to be a priority for all charities, and the lack of oversight demonstrated mismanagement in the administration of these charities.
“We recognise the progress made by both charities during the inquiry, including recent compliance with regulatory standards, but the findings of our inquiry underscored the importance of maintaining high safeguarding standards and rebuilding public trust.”