John Humphreys: Sex abuse scandal sparks child safeguarding review

A council has voted unanimously to make improvements to child safeguarding in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal.

By Ewan Murrie www.bbc.co.uk

Members of East Devon District Council voted on Tuesday on a report into the council’s handling of abuse allegations against a former councillor.

Ex-politician John Humphreys is currently serving 21 years in prison for sexually abusing two boys.

The council’s safeguarding lead was not told about the allegations when he was arrested in 2016, the report found.

This meant Humphreys stayed in office for three years while under police investigation, without a safeguarding risk assessment.

Humphreys was made an alderman by East Devon District Council while under criminal investigation

Speaking outside the meeting, council leader Paul Arnott said changes were needed.

He said: “The key issue to me is that if a report comes into this council at a senior level that a councillor has been investigated, that it isn’t confined to just one officer to deal with.

“What we have just resolved is that our safeguarding lead must be informed as a priority. For whatever reason, and we do not understand that yet, in 2016 our safeguarding lead was not told.

“For me that is unsatisfactory and there will be further internal works to look at quite how that happened.”

Humphreys, a former Conservative councillor, was jailed in 2021 for 21 years for what a judge called “shocking acts of sexual violence” against two boys before he was elected.

• Humphreys was first questioned by police in 2005 but police did not find sufficient evidence for a prosecution.
• Humphreys was also an Exmouth Town Council member and became mayor of Exmouth in 2010.
• Following a complaint by a second victim, Humphreys was arrested in 2016 before being released on bail on suspicion of sex crimes against children.
• He continued to be an East Devon Council member until May 2019, eventually being awarded the honorary title of alderman by the council in December 2019.
• Following his conviction in August 2021, the council removed his title and said it was to review the alderman process.

Councillors also voted unanimously to press Devon and Cornwall Police for more information about who in the local authority was informed about the allegations.

Devon County Council, which has a statutory role in managing allegations against adults working with children, will also be invited by East Devon District Council to discuss questions about how the John Humphreys case was handled.

The report into the council’s handling of the allegations was carried out by management consultancy firm Verita.

The council has asked for government help to mend fractious relationships with its staff following its handling of the case.

From a correspondent:

An extraordinary meeting  of East Devon District Council was held on July 11th to approve  an independent report by respected investigations company Verita,  into how pedophile John Humphreys was able to continue serving as a Tory councillor for years while under investigation by the police for the sexual abuse of two boys.

Despite the emotive content, the meeting was conducted in a generally dignified manner as requested by the Chair. The report was unanimously approved by councillors and its recommendations welcomed.

The biggest surprise of the evening was the frank admission from David Scott, one of the Verita authors, that “it was a trial for us to get information“ from Mark Williams, the CEO  and four other senior officers.

In reply to questions from a member of the public and councillors, Mr Scott revealed:

• the CEO objected from the start to the appointment of Verita, questioning their competence to undertake the investigation, and suggesting they would  not be impartial. He told Mr Scott that he did not think proper procurement had been followed and “would intervene” by commissioning a report from external auditors, Grant Thornton.
• Mark Williams insisted that he and his senior officers should first meet the investigators  not individually but as a group.  This surprised Verita  who considered  it “not appropriate”
• subsequently the CEO and the other officers  declined to be interviewed face-to-face but would only reply to written questions. Mr Scott thought this “was very unusual for individuals not to accept to be interviewed” and was “frustrating for us as investigators”.

He concluded it was “odd” that it was so difficult to extract information from public bodies such as EDDC. 

Many readers of the Verita report would agree.

(A correspondent also writes separately – two heads are better than one)

This meeting was kept firmly on track and focussed by the chair, Cllr Eleanor Rylance. She said this was an emotive subject that needed to be treated in a dignified and sensitive way.

It turned out to be a highly constructive one.

[Wisely, the Labour Group decided to set aside, for now, their reported intention to table a “Vote of no Confidence in the Chief Executive”.]

The vote to accept the report’s recommendations was passed unanimously by all 45 members present, with a little tweaking to strengthen them, and with the addition of:

1.  a referral to the Audit and Governance Committee to review record keeping in the council; and
2. a request to the council to ask further questions of both the Police and DCC, 

EDDC should now be in a much better place with regard to safeguarding.

There are, however, still unanswered questions as exemplified by both the first and last speakers, former Cllr Cathy Gardner speaking as a member of the public and Cllr Jess Bailey who has been the inexhaustible driving force behind the inquiry. 

Cathy Gardner raised questions that the inquiry may have been frustrated by some members and officers refusing to cooperate, if so were further efforts going to be made to fill in the gaps?

At the end, Cllr Jess Bailey said there were still unanswered questions: there was a total lack of records, posing subsidiary questions regarding where they were, what happened to them, and what impact does this have on other council business?

The Verita Report and its recommendations

David Scott, lead author of the Verita reports gave a presentation and then took part in a Q&A session from members.

Notable topics discussed that caught Owl’s eye include:

Why didn’t the Safeguarding Officer attend the LADO meeting

 (Local Authority Designated Officers responsible for managing allegations against adults who work with children).

Why did the former Monitoring Officer go to the first LADO meeting at DCC when the Safeguarding Officer might seem more appropriate? This is unusual. DCC so far have refused to give an explanation.

Reference to a mysterious report

A mysterious report attributed to the auditors “Grant Thornton” is referred to by Verita (pages 9 & 17 supplementary report).  The CEO had advised Verita in May  that he reserved the right, before formally responding to them, to view this report from Grant Thornton.

Cllr. Christopher Burhop asked what this report was. 

From the Verita Supplementary report (see page 17 above) it is likely to be the one  referred to by the CEO when he wrote:

“A report from the Council’s external auditors (Grant Thornton) into my concerns about the procurement process the Council adopted with regard to this investigation.” 

So far this Grant Thornton report does not seem to have been released to the council.

Explanation for budget overspend

During questions it was also established that Verita were on budget when they delivered their first report but have incurred an additional £8K to review the further information from the Police. 

This information referred to the inclusion in the minutes of the 9 March 2016 LADO meeting at DCC of the following:

 “The Chief of East Devon District Council had been alerted to the situation.” 

Having been unable to corroborate this statement, Verita concluded that it does not constitute sufficiently reliable evidence that the CEO of EDDC was aware of the Humphreys situation.

(Though it does indicate that someone in EDDC, other than the former Monitoring Officer who attended the meeting, had been informed.)

Verita’s reputation queried

Cllr Paul Arnott asked for a response to comments that had been made during the inquiry regarding Verita’s reputation. 

Mr Scott replied that in the only face to face meeting Verita had with the CEO, the CEO made it clear that he didn’t believe Verita had enough background in Local Government to be competent to do the work and that he didn’t believe they would be impartial. 

Mr Scott also said the CEO “pushed back strongly” against their proposed approach. Apparently this criticism was repeated on several occasions, for example, to the commissioning group.

(This is an experienced organisation who have worked on previous safeguarding issues. Included in the team was a lawyer with 25 years experience of criminal prosecutions, investigations, public inquiries etc.) 

Why all interviews were carried out by correspondence 

It also came up in answers to questions that initially the CEO had wanted to sit in on all interviews with officers in group sessions. All officers declined to be interviewed and questions were put in correspondence, a procedure Verita described as “unusual in their experience”.

A Victim’s perspective 

In his closing remarks Council Leader Paul Arnott thanked everyone for the quality of the debate and said that everyone should read from a victim’s perspective printed on page 25 of the report 

Postscript

Owl was unable to see whether the CEO attended in the chamber.

The debate can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmNHQruge3LVI4hcgRnbwBw

Homelessness, affordability and second homes in Devon are among issues to be tackled by a new commission of experts, councillors and parliamentarians.

www.bbc.co.uk

The Devon Housing Commission has been given the task of “making a case to Government” on how to approach the “housing crisis” in the region.

The University of Exeter and local authorities across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay will manage and fund it.

Lord Best, commission chair, said it would be a “powerful voice”.

He added: “By bringing together those with a major role across the county the commission will be a powerful voice for the importance of good quality housing for health and the economy.

“The commission will allow us to fully understand the origins of current pressures and look for innovative solutions from collective local action or significant policy change.”

‘A clear picture’

In 2021, Devon County Council leader Councillor John Hart said rising house prices and a lack of rental properties had resulted in a housing crisis.

A “shortage of appropriate homes” is continuing to impact people’s health and the economy, a spokesperson for Exeter University said.

The commission has been tasked with making a case for how “decent housing” can have an impact on the county’s “prosperity, economic growth and social mobility”.

It will seek views from communities in Devon which the university said would inform the case it makes to government.

Also in its remit will be homelessness, housing affordability, how to create attractive communities, integrating housing with health and care, the impact of short-term letting, holiday accommodation, student housing and second homes, the university said.

The commission would also be looking at how to deliver affordable housing in rural communities while protecting the environment.

Councillor Mandy Ewings, leader of West Devon Borough Council and chair of the Devon Housing Task Force which has created the commission, said it was a “real opportunity” to bring together people and expertise.

Levelling up, an example of Whitehall’s grip on spending. – Owl

Michael Gove’s department is handing back £1.9bn to the Treasury originally meant to tackle England’s housing crisis after struggling to find projects to spend it on.

Kiran Stacey www.theguardian.com 

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has surrendered hundreds of millions of pounds budgeted for 2022-23, including £255m meant to fund new affordable housing and £245m meant to improve building safety.

Officials said the department was unable to spend the money, which accounts for about a third of its entire housing budget, thanks to rising interest rates and uncertainty in the housing market after the Covid-19 pandemic.

But experts warn the lack of investment is likely to exacerbate the housing crisis in England, where homebuilding is forecast to drop to its lowest level since the second world war.

Jack Shaw, a local government expert who uncovered the figures through a freedom of information request, said: “The government is experiencing significant challenges investing in housing because of a perfect storm in market conditions.

“But the decision to delay housing investment or withdraw it altogether as a result of lower than anticipated spending will mean fewer homes are built.”

Others blame bureaucratic inefficiency for the government failing to find the right schemes to spend the money on.

Lisa Nandy, the shadow housing secretary, said: “The Conservatives have simply given up trying to solve the housing crisis that they helped create.

“Not content with slashing housebuilding by scrapping housing targets, stalling on renters’ reform or rowing back on their promises to leaseholders, ministers are either too incompetent or too out-of-touch to consider it a priority to fix dangerous buildings or build new affordable homes in the middle of a housing crisis.”

Gove recently called Britain’s housing system “broken”, adding: “We desperately need more homes to bring ownership within reach of many more people.”

But his critics have accused him of exacerbating that crisis by dropping a mandatory target for councils to build 300,000 new homes a year, making it voluntary instead. That decision has been cited by several councils as a reason to pause or scale down their housing plans.

Analysis by the consultancy Lichfields has found new housebuilding is expected to drop to its lowest level in decades, while 580,000 extra people are likely to find themselves homeless, “sofa surfing” in the homes of friends or family.

Meanwhile mortgage costs continue to rise quickly. Earlier this week, two-year fixed mortgage rates rose to their highest levels since 2008.

Officials point to the funding allocated to schemes such as the Affordable Housing Programme as evidence that the government remains committed to increasing housing supply and helping more people get on the housing ladder.

A DLUHC spokesperson said: “Our target of delivering 300,000 homes a year remains and we are fully committed to funding and delivering our programmes that help us meet that target, including the £11.5bn affordable homes programme.”

But the figures released by the department show it is not spending its full allocation. In 2022/23, the department underspent on the affordable housing programme by over £600m. Of that, it has saved £363m in the hope of spending it this financial year and given a further £355m back to the Treasury.

It has also given back £245m meant for improving building safety after the Grenfell fire and £1.2bn in money allocated for Help to Buy.

The Help to Buy scheme, which George Osborne launched in 2013 as a way to help more young people get on the housing ladder, offers government loans to first time buyers.

Last year was the final year of its operation, but officials say demand for the loans proved much smaller than expected, in part because of the impact of the pandemic.

Officials say the government remains committed to spending the money on housing. But under Whitehall rules, anything that is being pushed back until the next spending review, which could come next year, has to be officially surrendered to the Treasury.

A spokesperson said: “These are multi-year funding programmes that are being spent flexibly – meaning some money can be moved into future years depending on demand and the wider economic climate.”

Experts however point out that once the money is back with the Treasury it is purely a decision for the chancellor over what to spend it on in the future. Jeremy Hunt is already under pressure to spend extra money to raise public sector pay and to offer voters tax cuts.