A council has terminated a seven-year contract worth £8.57m with a children’s home charity early amid allegations over low staffing levels and the quality of support being offered.

The London Borough of Croydon contract with St Christopher’s Fellowship to run a four-bed home in the area started in July last year, with the first child moving in during April this year, followed by a further two in June.

But local authority documents say it has decided to terminate the contract as “recruitment and retention of staff have been a significant concern”, which the borough claims has contributed by a failure to use one of the places for emergencies.

The council also says the home has not had a permanent registered manager since the charity was taken on for the work, although this is denied by St Christopher’s.

Council bosses are also concerned about the “outcomes experienced by children placed at the home”. It further claims that the charity has shown an “inability to consistently demonstrate the capability required to deliver the high standard of care expected by the council as corporate parent”.

The decision to terminate the contract has been taken “despite efforts to work with the provider to improve practice”, said the council, which added “the situation has deteriorated to the extent that reasonable steps to address the concerns are no longer considered viable or effective and confidence in the ability of the provider to deliver the service is lost”.

A “key factor” in the decision was that “all children had moved from stable arrangements, where they had remained for several months, into situations that subsequently resulted in placement breakdowns and/or hospital admissions”, claims the council.

Rather than closing the home while a full re-procurement process is carried out, the charity is to continue running the home during a three month notice period “to ensure continuity of care, support the planned transition of children to appropriate placements, and enable the mobilisation of replacement provision if agreed”.

Charity ‘strongly disputes’ the claims

The charity says it “strongly disputes a number of the assertions” made by the council into its running of the home, which offers short term respite support for children and young people with complex needs.

It also points out that an Ofsted report following an inspection earlier in September is due to be published, that has rated its performance “as Good in all areas”.

As well as denying that the home has not had a registered manager in place since registration, it says “we do not accept the suggestion that staffing levels prevented the service from operating effectively” and that “the home was staffed from the outset” and “supported where necessary through our wider workforce arrangements”.

The charity’s statement adds: “Where concerns were raised during weekly dialogue with our commissioners, St Christopher’s responded constructively, listened to feedback and put actions in place to address areas identified for improvement.

“We also sought to work collaboratively with the council to find solutions and support the best outcomes for the children in our care.”

The charity’s chief executive is awaiting a response after raising concerns “formally with the council and set out in detail where we believe its account is inaccurate or lacks important context”, adds St Christopher's.

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