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A children’s care home and school in West Lothian, Scotland, has been warned that it must make urgent improvements to standards or it will face legal action.
The school, a council-funded facility which houses vulnerable children between 11 and 16 who have serious behavioural and emotional problems, has been issued with an eight-point Improvement Notice by the care watchdog, the Care Inspectorate.
The Improvement Notice was issued following reports of numerous incidents at the home, from assaults to vandalism. A spokesperson for West Lothian Council said:

“Given the frequency and seriousness of the incidents, the police and ourselves contacted the care regulator, SCSWIS, to alert them to the situation.”

The Inspectorate is ordering the home’s owners to make improvements to cut the number or unauthorised absences, as well as the number of times the police have to be called. There are also care training issues to be resolved, in areas such as physical restraint and resolving conflict situations in which staff or residents face a risk of assault.
If the improvements are not made within two weeks, the care watchdog will push for the council to stop further admissions to the school. If the situation still doesn’t improve, the school may even be shut down.