|
|
The |
|
The City Manager, Mr John Gray, may face a legal
challenge to his decision to accept the abrupt closing on Thursday of the
Civic Child Care Centre. Staff and parents opposed to the decision are angry
that Mr Gray declined to raise a formal objection to the Ministry of
Education's decision to revoke the centre's licence, as he was legally entitled
to do. The staff union, the Local Government Officers' Until it contacted the council, the ministry had proposed
only to suspend the licence. Told of the proposed suspension, Mr Gray said he
intended to make no "representations" on the matter. Therefore the
ministry had taken the next step and revoked the licence. Mr Gray confirmed that he supported the decision to
close the centre. He said that concerns held for children's welfare and
safety were such that he had no choice. The chairman of the centre's management committee,
Mr Simon Fraser, said Mr Gray had arguably not exercised a legal "duty
of care" as the employer. A former employee of the centre has been charged
with sexual offences against children at the centre. Mr Fraser said so far
police had made more than 100 evidential interviews relating to: their inquiry.
He had learned the police feared that disclosing details of their inquiry
before the matter went to court would jeopardise their case. In light of this, the police, the council, and the ministry
had agreed to withhold further details. The centre had been running at a loss for the last six
months as children were pulled out because of the child-abuse controversy, he
said. Police confirmed yesterday that the briefing given
to the ministry before it took its decision concerned its ongoing inquiry
into alleged child abuse at the centre. However, the police denied recommending
that it be closed. Mr Fraser said the welfare of children was paramount,
but a suspension would have sufficed. Instead, staff had-been faced with a
fait accompli and had no idea of the underlying reasons. At a meeting of concerned parents and staff, last night,
parents related the conflicting accounts they had been given by the police
and other officials. One parent said the decision was taken in the knowledge
that the forthcoming court case would attract publicity and put pressure on
families. Calling for calm, Mr Fraser said speculation was no
basis on which to make a case. He said .that with political support on the council
for reopening the centre diminishing, and the possibility that new owners
might be prevented from taking on existing staff, the prospects were not good. |
