KENDALL HOUSE REVIEW REPORT

Anglican Diocese of Rochester
July 13, 2016

http://www.rochester.anglican.org/content/pages/documents/1468411255.pdf

The Rt Rev James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester hosted a press conference this morning to share the findings of the Kendall House Review panel report with members of the media.

In his opening statement, Bishop James said, “It was in 2014 that I determined the need for some kind of review in relation to Kendall House, and I made my intentions public in early in 2015.

The number of former residents making serious allegations about their treatment during their time at Kendall House was steadily increasing, and it was clear that no other body was going to initiate any review or enquiry.

It took longer than I might have wished both to find the right people to undertake the review and to clarify the terms of reference for the review with them. However, I am convinced that Professor Sue Proctor and her colleagues Samantha Cohen and Ray Galloway were the right people to undertake this work on behalf of the diocese of Canterbury and Rochester. I believe that the depth, detail and outcome of their work vindicate this decision and on behalf of the diocese of Canterbury and Rochester, I thank them for their dedication to what has been a challenging piece of work.

I would now like to invite Professor Proctor to speak about the review and its findings.”

Professor Sue Proctor who chaired the conference then introduced the findings of the review panel. She said, “Before sharing the findings of this review, we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the important contribution of all those who spoke with us as part of the process. In particular, we wish to thank all the former residents and their families who took part, for their candour and courage in coming forward and recounting sometimes painful and emotional experiences about their time at Kendall House. The consistency in their accounts is striking and paints a compelling picture of life at the home. We are also grateful to those former staff who spoke with us.

Kendall House was a private children’s home for girls, based in Gravesend, Kent. It was run and funded by the Church of England, overseen by a body called the Joint Council for Social Responsibility for the Dioceses of Rochester and Canterbury. It closed in December 1986.

In December 2015, the current Bishop of Rochester commissioned an independent panel to review events at Kendall House from 1967 until its closure. Whilst it was running, and in the years since its closure, a number of allegations of abusive and inappropriate practice there had been made by former residents. These included inappropriate and over-use of medication, and accounts of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

The scope of the review was as follows:

• To hear and consider the accounts of former residents of Kendall House, and other relevant witnesses, including complaints about the use of drugs as a means of behavioural control and allegations of emotional, physical and sexual abuse;

• To consider relevant materials relating to Kendall House; and

• To review the relevant actions of those who worked at Kendall House, or who were associated with its service provision during the above time frame.

We have considered hundreds of written documents, including the records of 44 residents, many associated reports, records of meetings and other correspondence. We have also heard recollections and descriptions of life at Kendall House from 20 former residents, a number of their friends and relatives, and 15 former staff and others who had an association with the home. These recollections refer to periods in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.