Inquiry into York nurseries defended

9:24am Friday 18th May 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

AN education chief has defended the “thorough and comprehensive” investigation conducted into two York nurseries, saying it had been warranted by “very serious allegations about the quality of care.”

Pete Dwyer, City of York Councils’ director of adults, children and education, also revealed that parents should shortly be given an update, following the completion of the probe into Heworth House in Melrosegate and Little Joe’s in Hospital Fields Road.

Speaking during and after a meeting of City of York Council’s Yor-OK Board, he said it had been inevitable that a process involving a criminal investigation would create delay and uncertainty, and the authority had been unable to provide an update so far for legal reasons, which it acknowledged had been frustrating.

“However, we remain committed to updating parents in the very near future,” he said. “We can reassure parents that as a result of the enquiries and the commitment of the nurseries to respond to the concerns, steps have been taken to address all of the issues identified, and we would like to thank parents for their patience and cooperation with what must have been a difficult time.”

The probe was launched last August when six members of staff were arrested, but police later said no action would be taken against them.

The Press reported last month that the nurseries had been cleared by Ofsted, which said their owner, Lynn Dyrdal, had taken “prompt and appropriate action” to rectify any problems.

Mrs Dyrdal, who said then that the all-clear had come too later to prevent her business and reputation being “left in tatters,” was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Comments(14)

roskoboskovic says...
9:54am Fri 18 May 12

they would ,of course, have to cover their backs and defend their actions but the way the enquiry was conducted in the full gaze of the public with no subsequent conviction is a disgrace.someone seems to have a grudge against the owner and either the accuser should be brought to book or the owner of the nurseries should be compensated.

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bugg says...
11:15am Fri 18 May 12

Im glad the council and police thoroughly investigated this case, it probably should have been handled quicker however things were identified that needed changing and they have been - this should be a good thing surely? I think the main issue was that so much was kept secret that it was the rumours that caused the damage. I would have no worries with sending a child there now.

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hokey cokey says...
12:12pm Fri 18 May 12

I am afraid alot of the problems really stem from the owners actions. My son attended one of these nurseries a few years ago and several highly competent managers and good members of staff were let go because they had requested flexible working to care for children of their own, which was refused by the owner. The standard of care started to decline with staff leaving. The owner seemed to be mainly interested in making sure that parents paid on time. Some good advice for the owner would be to look after your staff in future and they will look after your nursery!

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kenstarsix says...
12:14pm Fri 18 May 12

Why did it take so long to bring this whole matter to a conclusion? I believe that is the question Pete Dwyer needs to explain to the owners, staff and parents of these two nurseries. He needs to ask the Police why it took them so long to find those accused had no case to answer. He needs to ask Ofsted why it took them so long to conclude the practices at these two nurseries only needed improving but were not bad enough to withdraw their certificates of registration. And finally, he needs to ask City of York Safeguarding Children’s Board why it to them so long to find the nurseries had no safeguarding issues that warranted their attention. And he needs to answer himself why his own department had not involved before all this had happen in such a way as to have prevented those nurseries from suffering the consequences of what would now appear to be unsubstantiated claims of malpractice and ‘child welfare issues’.
I do not support people or child care facility that does not look after children in a loving and caring manner but these people that work with young children are now in the firing line of any half cocked accusation which will ruin their reputation and livelihood.

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cynic3 says...
12:21pm Fri 18 May 12

I would like to know what Pete Dwyer's reaction would be if a complaint against him was handled like this. But of course that would never happen. A council employee would be sent home on full pay and then given lump sum compensation.

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Daisy75 says...
2:48pm Fri 18 May 12

All allegations and investigations involving children follow this pattern these days- the accused is vilified in the Press or locally for months on end, but even if cleared the finger of suspicion never fully goes away. I think we all need to take a look at ourselves and our assumption that people must be guilty, and stop the hysteria, until a complaint has been proven.

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greg 1 says...
2:53pm Fri 18 May 12

I hope the person responsible for making these ludicrous allegations , is happy with the pain and heartache that they have caused so many people. Loyal hard working ,honest staff have had their careers wrecked , and had their names and reputations draged through the mud. Children have been removed from the loving care of the girls who have looked after them , some for many years, and some parents have had to give up work to look after their children. This investigation has dragged on since august last year, if it was meant to cause the optimum damage it certainly has. No criminal charges were brought against any of the girls, any problems that were found were rectified immediatly, so why are the safeguarding board still hounding these nurseries.? And yes i agree this person should be brought to book, and provide evidence for their accusations . Its a good job Matthew Hopkins (witchfinder general) is long dead otherwise these girls would of been burnt at the stake.

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idlehousewife says...
4:44pm Fri 18 May 12

Totally agree with the above comments. Names of the accused should not be published until the case is proven.All too often in the past the Press has been only too willing to hang,draw and quarter in order to increase its sales.Enough is enough.

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Yummy-yum says...
5:19pm Fri 18 May 12

Referring to hockey cokey, how can u say that when she does look after her staff n does have PART TIME staff working for her!

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Yummy-yum says...
5:22pm Fri 18 May 12

hokey cokey wrote:
I am afraid alot of the problems really stem from the owners actions. My son attended one of these nurseries a few years ago and several highly competent managers and good members of staff were let go because they had requested flexible working to care for children of their own, which was refused by the owner. The standard of care started to decline with staff leaving. The owner seemed to be mainly interested in making sure that parents paid on time. Some good advice for the owner would be to look after your staff in future and they will look after your nursery!
How can U say that when she does look after her staff and has PART TIME staff working for

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Smiler says...
5:37pm Fri 18 May 12

there were serious allegations made and substansiated by OFSTED. look at the ofsted site!

these were not just little things, they were things that OFSTED have the power to close settings down for if they do not improve.

the suspension of staff is manditory in any investigation regarding safeguarding, just because they have not been found guily of a criminal offence, doesnt mean nothing happened.

there were safeguarding issues found and it is the CYC responsibility to keep in touch.

Knowing how the system works, whilst the nurseries were lucky not to have action taken against them, they never had any chance of closing. the local authority would have been responsible for finding childcare for all of the displaced children that the closure would cause. and closing any of her nurseries would mean that she would no longer be able to be a suitable person, therefore all of her nurseries would have to close.

The CYC cant find that level of care, OFSTED know it and wont do that!

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greg 1 says...
6:36pm Fri 18 May 12

In reply to smiler, any concerns that arose during ofsteds visit to these nurseries, were immediatley rectified. If the nurseries were in anyway putting the welfare of childeren at serious risk they would have been closed down on the spot. To say the nurseries were lucky not to have action taken against them is totally unfair, mistakes may have been made, but the owner complied with all ofsted reccomendations. These nurseries have suffered a devastating effect , and a lot of innocent people have been made redundant. I always thought it was innocent until proven guilty (which nobody was) , obviously i am wrong! Are you saying then that you are automatically guilty when accused of an alleged offence, without credible evidence?

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R'Marcus says...
5:06pm Sat 19 May 12

bugg wrote:
Im glad the council and police thoroughly investigated this case, it probably should have been handled quicker however things were identified that needed changing and they have been - this should be a good thing surely? I think the main issue was that so much was kept secret that it was the rumours that caused the damage. I would have no worries with sending a child there now.
Pete Dwyer is just covering his own back.
The council-and this means Pete in this instance-should have taken the facts seriously in the first instance, and ignored those who have nothing better to do than blame the good folk who were doing their worth-while jobs.

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York1900 says...
8:46pm Sun 20 May 12

This type of investigation all ways takes a lot of time as each investigation as to take it's turn in the order criminal, state then council as the last 2 can not do any thing that may mean the criminal case is jeopardised it is not offten that these type of investigation get done with in year most take 2 years or more

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