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Content warning: This article contains details of child abuse, including child mortality. 

Emily Jordan

With the current state of the UK’s social care system deemed inadequate, the deaths of the country’s most vulnerable have begun to plague headlines. Why are so many children being failed by a system meant to protect them?

One child in every 140 is in care. Often, this is to protect them from potential violence or neglect under the supervision of their guardian – although, many experience child abuse once they are in care. They have separated over 20,000 children from their siblings due to a lack of provisions in the sector. These children are more likely to live in socially rented accommodation, experience greater deprivation and miss more time at school. In other words, they’re among the most vulnerable children in the UK.

The state of our social care system is worsening as authorities continue to ignore calls for complete reform, and recent cases of neglect in the news are a consequence of the system’s failures and show that change is long overdue.

The Case Of Bronson Battersby

Bronson Battersby was found deceased alongside his father, Kenneth, at their home in Lincolnshire. It is believed the elder died from a heart attack. Bronson, left alone for days after his father’s death, eventually succumbed to starvation.

The police ignored the concerns raised by Battersby’s social worker, who attempted multiple visits with no response. Concerns had been filed over a week before their bodies were discovered. The landlord granted the social worker access to the property, confirming their tragic fate.

Heartbreakingly, Bronson’s cause of death resulted from the mere inches between his height and the fridge handle. The fridge contained the remains of their Christmas Dinner. This incident exemplifies the fatal neglect experienced by children under local authority protection.

Hesley Group Neglect

Between 2018 and 2021, staff at three different locations operated by the private care provider Hesley Group allegedly abused multiple disabled children. Accounts of neglect included medication misuse, inappropriate use of restraints, and sexual harm. The cruelty targeted the very children and young adults the homes were meant to protect.

Shockingly, the BBC uncovered that the disabled young people were “reportedly punched, kicked and fed chillies.” Children were allegedly stripped and locked outside in freezing temperatures.

Many of these abused young people were promised “safe, low-risk environments” by the providers themselves, who supposedly specialised in the care of autistic people. Instead, many were unable to even articulate their distress due to their unmet, high-support needs. Approximately three per cent of children enter the care system due to a disability.

The Hesley Group is an example of child abuse, carried out by trusted carers in a residential home. It reflects the nation’s desperate need for reform of the current social care system. To do so, better regulate public and private institutions is needed.

Private vs Public Care

Notably, 75 per cent of the UK’s children’s care homes are run by private organisations. Many of these reap extortionate financial returns for substandard care. For instance, children are often placed miles away from their families and separated from siblings, due to the lack of provision for their complex needs.

“Social care is becoming increasingly inaccessible to children in the UK.”

Inspectors have branded more than 100 privately run children’s homes in England inadequate, but others aren’t even investigated thoroughly enough to uncover abuse. One report concerning the Helsey Group revealed that Ofsted failed to intervene for more than three years, despite hundreds of complaints, serious incident notifications and whistleblower reports of conditions.

In response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) call for an overhaul of the £6.5bn UK market for children’s residential and foster care, authorities claimed it’s “difficult to invest in the range of community provision required.”

A Rise In At-Risk Children

Social care is becoming increasingly inaccessible to children in the UK. The lack of intervention available has left school teachers resourceless in times of crisis.

Many cases of child abuse and neglect therefore become “open secrets” that educators are powerless to change. One headteacher of a primary school with a largely deprived intake in a major city said: “Child neglect, which we recognise from signs like poor cleanliness and nutrition, is hardly ever escalated to social services. It needs to go on for years before there is intervention.”

The NSPCC also revealed that child abuse has doubled over the last five years, and stated that risk factors related to the increase were linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Subsequently, councils have confirmed that the crisis aligns with the high number of referrals, which have increased by 8.8 per cent.

Children In Care: On The Inside

Channel 4’s three-part documentary series KIDS (2023) follows children in care in Coventry. The documentary highlights their struggles within the system, in their own words. Audiences see how they live within the system and are preparing to age out of it.

This side of the system seldom receives public attention, and the experiences of the teenagers reveal both the positive and negative aspects of growing up in care. By amplifying their voices, we can better identify the issues they consider most critical in their upbringing. If we fail to listen to those within the system, how can we expect to improve it?

Authorities are disregarding stories from educators nationwide, and they are neglecting to provide a platform for children in care. So, who exactly are social services listening to?

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Featured image courtesy of Polesie Toys via Pexels. No changes made to this image. Image licence found here.

University of the West of England MA Journalism Student University of Bristol BSc Marketing Graduate Freelance journalist with specialisms in entertainment, music and current affairs.

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