Private care company calls in the lawyers over Council Leader’s comments

Council Leader Councillor Colin Lambert

Private care company, Meadows Care which specialises in the provision of residential care services to young people in 16 homes in and around Rochdale has contacted solicitors and a leading barrister over comments made by Council Leader Councillor Colin Lambert in the aftermath of the recent Rochdale paedophile grooming case.

Meadows Care Director, Neil Shelmerdine confirmed to us earlier today (Tuesday 9 October) that he has instructed Manley’s Solicitors based in Chester “to address issues arising from comments made by Councillor Lambert” which the company claims has cost them business as a direct consequence in the form of the loss of placements from other local authorities.

Following the trial held in Liverpool earlier this year, Councillor Lambert repeatedly expressed his concerns regarding privately-run children’s homes in the press, on radio and on TV. He is reported as saying that Rochdale is not a safe place to place these children as, under current legislation, the council had no control over them.

It is believed that Manley’s solicitors, a specialist Media Law Firm based in Chester which is acting on behalf of Meadows Care Limited and Pathfinders, wrote to the council earlier in the summer outlining the company’s case but that Councillor Lambert's legal advisors have replied refuting the allegations. Meadows Care is unhappy with the response and have instructed their solicitors to contact leading barrister Ian Helme to examine the case with a view to taking it forward.

Mark Manley said: “Our clients are very angry about the comments which have been made, which they consider to be seriously defamatory, and are having a dramatic and damaging effect on their businesses. They are, therefore, not prepared to allow the matter to rest.”

“We have instructed a specialist defamation barrister, Ian Helme, who is based in London, to look at the case and High Court proceedings may be commenced shortly”. 

Councillor Lambert said: "They have my legal response.

"They either want to discuss this through solicitors or the media. They need to make their mind up."

On its website, Meadows Care says that it offers specialist support such as 'child-focused and holistic care consisting of transitional assessments and residential support to children experiencing substance misuse, self-harm, violent and challenging behaviors'. It operates 41 homes across the UK. It was not involved in the recent grooming case and none of the victims were in its care. Only one of the five victims in the trial came from a privately-run care facility.

Earlier this month, Steve Garner, the head of the council’s children’s services resigned following the publication of a 29-page report by the borough’s Safeguarding Board. A Serious Case Review will present its full report next year.

www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/73973/head-of-rochdale-childrens-services-resigns