Nottinghamshire councils under scrutiny ?

"The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) is looking at whether Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council could have done more to prevent child abuse in children's homes, foster care, and in adoption."

"It will establish the extent of any institutional failures to protect children in the care of the two councils from sexual abuse and exploitation."

"At a preliminary hearing in London on Wednesday (January 31), it was revealed that some of the full hearings - which will take place over three weeks in October this year - will be held in Nottingham..."

"The full hearing had been scheduled to be held entirely in London, but at a previous preliminary hearing, in May last year David Hollas, advocate for the Nottinghamshire Child Sexual Abuse Survivors Group, had made a request that they be moved to Nottinghamshire..."

"The hearing today is also looking at which particular case studies will be considered in the October hearings. There are 83 different complainants who are identified as core participants in those hearings, but only some cases will be looked at in detail..."

"There are four case study areas which have been proposed: Beechwood children's home in Mapperley, Wollaton House children's home in Wollaton, foster care, and peer-on-peer abuse."

"However, Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, who represents 46 of the complainants, said this would be too narrow a focus.

"She told the hearing: `There were decades of abuse on an industrial scale of children in the care of Nottinghamshire councils`."

"We say that the proposals which have been made do not deal with the extent or the scale."

However, Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC, who represents 46 of the complainants, said this would be too narrow a focus.

She told the hearing: "There were decades of abuse on an industrial scale of children in the care of Nottinghamshire councils.

"We say that the proposals which have been made do not deal with the extent or the scale..." 

http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/part-child-sexual-abuse-inquiry-1145285#ICID=sharebar_facebook


There is no mention of Melanie Shaw who still languishes in prison and is in her cell  twenty three hours out of every twenty four. It appears likely that the establishment is ensuring that her testimony about child sexual abuse and murder at Beechwood care home is not available for the independent public inquiry

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Here is Beechwood children's home survivor Joni Cameron-Blair talking to Clare McDonnell about the child abuse cover-ups in Nottinghamshire. 

 
Joni: "It wasn`t until about 18 months when I started documenting people`s behaviour towards children and I was going back maybe a year later or two years back to that same home - because it wasn`t always happening annually - sometimes it could be two, possibly three years - and I would go back and I would see the same members of staff still working there despite me feeding back my concerns and complaints."

"And then I also noticed that my reports would also be doctored and manufactured and my verbatim would be removed.  And I began to question this practice."

Clare McDonnell: "What was going on do you think?" 
 
Joni: "I think there were lots of contributing factors to be honest... I think a lot of it was about reputational protection; a lot of it was about protection for the insurance company policy; a lot of it was about the hierarchical protection of their own personal ... pay and pensions. It certainly wasn`t about the protection of children. I certainly didn`t see any protection of children despite the numerous concerns and complaints that I was taking to the inspectorate."
"I then took my concerns away from the inspectorate because I realised that no action was taking place. So I then took it to the panel. The panel consisted of the chief executive of Nottingham City Council, the director of Social Services and the assistant director of Social Services and a lot of other, you know, top people; and it was during these meetings that I ensured that my concerns were minuted."

"I needed documented proof that I was sharing my concerns and still no action was happening. And when I challenged that action and when they said to me and announced to me on that panel that they would be having investigations, I would no sooner get home and within days of addressing the panel they would cancel those meetings and cancel those investigations. And it was just quite staggering. I was just banging my head against a brick wall and for the life of me even today I don`t know why; I don`t know why they were preventing me from following my duty of care to protect children..."

[BBC Five Live Fri 14 Aug 2015 with Clare McDonnell]