Revealed: How youngsters were locked in 'padded cell' at a Pembrokeshire pupil unit (From Western Telegraph)

Revealed: How youngsters were locked in 'padded cell' at a Pembrokeshire pupil unit

4:42pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News Exclusive By Katy Woodhouse

The Western Telegraph can today reveal more details about the controversial use of a padded room which was locked to hold unruly youngsters at Neyland's Pupil Referral Unit (PRU).

The time-out room (TOR) - where young people could be locked against their will - was highlighted as a concern by a damning Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales and Estyn report last year but full details of the room and how it was used have previously remained hidden.

Under the Freedom of Information Act the Western Telegraph has obtained a copy of a independent review report carried out in January 2010 following a complaint by a pupil in 2009.

The report describes a "newly refurbished, lockable TOR, with a light switch in the next room" which had been in place since Easter 2009 at Neyland with a similar facility in another unnamed Pembrokeshire school.

It states: "There is no furniture, staff and pupils have to sit on the padded floor. It is very small. There is no ventilation, despite it having been requested at the planning stage.

"There is a very definite presence of fumes coming from the material padding the walls, ceiling and floor".

There was no written policy for the use of the TOR but all staff were aware of what was generally agreed to be good practice. The report also refers to a lack of legislation and guidance from Welsh Government.

The report states that pupils would be asked to go into the room voluntarily and some young people would request to be placed in there when they wanted to calm down.

However, "where a pupil refused to go to the TOR voluntarily and staff judged it necessary for the safety and well being of others, they would be placed there. This sometimes required the use of physical restraint and the locking of the door."

Interviews with staff showed that locking the door was common practice when pupils were placed in the room "against their will."

It concluded that use of a TOR is not illegal: "PRU staff believe that they have only ever acted in everyone's best interest. They were not aware that they were opening themselves up to allegations of false imprisonment."

The investigation raised other concerns - including the decision after the allegation was made to allow interviews with families to be carried out by unqualified social services staff.

The governance of the unit was also criticised with arrangements said to be "not satisfactory."

Improvement to restraint training also needed to be made as it had been carried out by head of Behaviour Support Service Judy Jones, who was not qualified to deliver it.

It was recommended that the PRU needed access to a range of time out facilities, including the TOR, and a new policy for its use needed to be completed and implemented after consultation with staff, pupils, parents and the county council.

Advocate's complaint sparked investigation Independent advocate and youth worker Hayley Wood, whose complaint about a young person put in the time out room sparked the initial investigation, said she was "shocked" by the report.

She was also concerned that the matter was not taken further by police and that formal interviews were not carried out.

"There is an understanding that the time out room is meant to be for young people to go into voluntarily to calm down.

"I can understand it if somebody's kicking off and they need to be kept safe but I've never used such a facility and I've worked with the most violent children.

"They called it the 'padded cell' and it was as described - padded. small, dark because the light was switched off and my referral was, they were locked in there - this was a false imprisonment and it was used as a punishment.

"If I did that to one of my children at home and they reported it to social services we know what would happen. But because the have got power of authority they can - to me there's no balance to it."

Time Out Room no longer used, says council

A Pembrokeshire County Council spokesman said that all recommendations contained in the report have been addressed since the commissioning of the report by the authority more than two years ago.

He said that this time out room was used for six weeks until mid-June 2009 and no other school in the county has a similarly used facility.

"The room has since been adapted for use as a quiet area allowing pupils time and space away from the classroom on a voluntary basis if they feel it necessary to regain composure and control over their emotions," he added.

The spokesman also said that the Management Committee of the PRU has "reviewed and strengthened its membership in line with the recommendations in the report. reviews and strengthened its terms of reference to ensure closer monitoring of the day-to-day running of the PRU and reviewed all policies of the PRU.

"The Management Committee also receives, as a standing item at its meetings, full reports on complaints, safeguarding matters and all incidents of positive holding/restraint.

"All PRU staff have received accredited training in positive/holding restraint through an independent training organisation."

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