(A bit) More on the Secure School

 

We learned last month that the Oasis Restore Secure School was to close temporarily following a monitoring visit by Ofsted which raised concerns about safety and the quality of the buildings- in particular a large number of broken doors. The report of Ofsted’s visit which took place at the end of July has now been published. Does it tell us more than we already know?

On timing, the report reveals that while new placements were to be halted immediately, the temporary closure would be “in or around September 2025”. So it’s not altogether clear whether there are still children there. The period of closure is to allow for the environment to be fully assessed, for new security doors to be delivered and installed, and for other essential works to take place. There’s no indication of how long this might take.

On the problems themselves, the report confirms that several “security doors” were badly damaged, compromising the safety of children and staff. Other aspects of the safety and security of the School were also compromised “due to the installation of items that do not have the required resilience for a secure environment”.  The items are not specified. The report mentions other weaknesses- very high temperatures in the education block and poorly maintained outside spaces.

The report’s focus on infrastructure failings makes it hard to assess whether there’s more to this story than badly designed doors and how well Oasis have been managing the School.  Ofsted report an increased use of single separation, when a child is locked up alone in their room. It’s a measure which has a negative impact on children and should only be used when necessaryto prevent injury or serious damage to property.

There is also a reference in the report to “serious safety and security issues” in two areas of the School which managers undertook to remedy urgently - but no detail is provided.

On the whole, the report is more critical of the Ministry of Justice than of Oasis, making it clear that the MoJ is responsible for the building, “including expediting repairs and ordering necessary items, but it has failed to ensure that the replacement items needed are available and installed within a reasonable time frame”.  The more fundamental question is why such repairs are needed so soon after £40 million was spent getting the place ready.

Although the Public Accounts Committee might take this up in their current inquiry into the MoJ, I’d like to see the Justice Committee hold a one off session with officials and Oasis to get to the bottom of what went wrong.