Abuse claims were 'brushed under the carpet'

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has heard that allegations of physical, emotional and verbal abuse suffered by children in secure care in Edinburgh were "brushed under the carpet" for more than a decade by senior council managers.

Retired social worker Pauline McKinnon told the inquiry chairwoman, Lady Smith, that she "felt like the enemy, digging up things people didn't want digging up" after being asked to lead an investigation.

It followed a whistleblowing complaint about the secure units Howdenhall and St Katharine's, which were shut in 2023.

Ms McKinnon told the inquiry that she identified 30 cases of abuse between 2008 and 2019.

These included children being punched, restrained inappropriately and locked up for hours for trivial reasons.

Councillor Joan Griffiths, the education, children and families convener at the local authority, said the council accepted that young people "suffered at the hands of those who should have been looking after them."

Ms McKinnon said there was a toxic, dysfunctional culture and described being "disturbed" by comments from one staff member in an incident report.

She said the report said: "If the council gives us nylon carpets, the people's faces are going to get marked when we hold them down".

Ms McKinnon said there were numerous missed opportunities to tackle the abusive behaviour but senior managers in the City of Edinburgh Council's childrens and families department "turned a blind eye" when concerns were raised.

Her report, submitted in 2021, contained 44 recommendations.

She told Lady Smith that "nothing was being done" at the point when she retired three years later.

In her closing statement to the inquiry, Ms McKinnon said she believes "lessons have not been learned".

She added that she does not have confidence that young people currently being looked after by the council are safe, nurtured and protected.

Cllr Griffiths said the survivors had shown "incredible courage and bravery" in telling their stories.

She added: "I recognise that there were historic safeguarding failures and young people suffered at the hands of the those who should have been looking after them. We failed to take action when we should have done and, for that, I am sorry.

"As a council, we continue to learn lessons from the past and are on a long and difficult journey of improvement in our residential care and wider children's services."

She said a "range of new measures" had been introduced and that the council would continue to act on the inquiry's findings.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was established in October 2015 to look into cases of abuse of children in care in Scotland.