Public Administration Committee questions Camila Batmanghelidjh

Camila Batmanghelidjh and Alan Yentob were questioned by the Public Administration Committee, following the collapse of the charity `Kids Company.`

I thought some of the questioning was quite vicious:

For instance: "How do you take care of someone`s mental health by buying them a pair of shoes for £150?"

Camila Batmanghelidgh could not address the specifics because she did not have the records available to her but answered: "The way you`ve put that question is really unjust. The structure of that question is very disrespectful to vulnerable young people.... You can have mental health difficulties and you can still need a pair of shoes."

She went on: "What is happening in this country is that the numbers of children getting to social services and child mental health are controlled by a process which is a sort of hidden gatekeeping because the local authorities can`t cope... That is at the heart of the difficulties that we are all experiencing."

The committee proceeded to question whether the problem was as serious as she claimed.

Batmanghelidjh said that central government and local authorities did not want to admit the extent of child protection failures in this country.

The sudden collapse of Kids Company followed Camila Batmanghelidjh`s accusation that the government was suppressing evidence of child abuse "involving very senior members of the establishment".

http://alicemooreuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/kids-company-closes-amongst-storm-of.html