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Child protection: Pembrokeshire council's final warning Child protection: Pembrokeshire council's final warning
(40 minutes later)
A final warning has been given to a council by the Welsh government, which accuses it of failing in its duty to safeguard children. A final warning has been given to a council accused of failing in its duty to safeguard children.
Ministers say repeated failings mean it is likely they will issue direct orders for the council to comply with duties. The Welsh government sent a board into Pembrokeshire last year following two highly critical reports, one of which identified problems in protecting children from abuse.
A letter to the council leader says children were locked in rooms at schools without records kept. There are claims of children being locked in rooms and of a one's hands being tied by a teacher.
In another incident, a child's hands were allegedly tied behind his back by a teacher. Ministers say they will force the council to comply if necessary.
The letter says the council's director of education refused to step in when the school failed to take appropriate action. 'Grave concerns'
He subsequently intervened five days later, but only after being urged to do so by the Welsh government's ministerial board which is monitoring the effectiveness of child protection in the county. In a letter to Jamie Adams, the council's independent leader, they said they still have "grave concerns" about the authority.
The board was sent in last year following two highly critical reports, one of which identified problems in protecting children from abuse. The letter says despite an initial investigation and police recommendations, no disciplinary investigation has been carried out into complaints about a small padded "time out room" at a unit for children with special educational needs and behaviour problems.
More follows... A complaint was made in June 2009 about children being locked in the room, which had no natural light or venitlation, at the Pupil Referral Unit in Neyland.
Ministers want to know why no inquiry has been conducted by the council three years later.
When reports about it emerged the council said there was nothing similar at other schools in the county.
But the ministerial board has discovered a "very similar padded room" at a primary school elsewhere in the county.
This school also had two other windowless rooms in which children were routinely locked, the letter says.
Ministers say they have since heard about at least five rooms in which children were locked "and there may be several more".
The board has learned of at least 18 further rooms which were apparently being used for "time out" purposes in Pembrokeshire's schools.
Seperate allegations were made in March about a teacher at Meads Infant School in Milford Haven, tying a pupil's hands behind his back.
The board was only told about the allegations the night before they were reported in the press and the director of education did not step in until the board urged him to do so five days later.
In a joint statement, Education Minister Leighton Andrews and Deputy Social Services minister Gwenda Thomas said: "We have waited long enough and we are not prepared to give another warning.
"We will issue another statement when we have considered the leader's response and have determined our course of action."