Latest news with #GuyRennerThompson
BBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Malnourished girl known to social services 'most of her life'
A malnourished 13-year-old girl who weighed about two stone (13.8kg) had been known to social services for most of her life, a councillor has Renner-Thompson, from Northumberland County Council, said despite that, the teenager's health worsened when her situation "took a very quick turn".His comments were made following a safeguarding review about the girl, known in the report as Sophia, which found she had suffered from levels of malnutrition "not seen in the UK".Renner-Thompson said Sophia had been "on-and-off social services" but her poor health was not spotted for a number of reasons, including her school being closed during the pandemic. "It really was in the last couple of years where things took a turn, you know - to do with her school not being open during the pandemic, transitioning to another school, and issues at home," he told BBC Radio review was commissioned by The Northumberland Children and Adult Safeguarding Partnership, which identified a number of lessons to be learnt from the case. The 67-page document was written from Sophia's perspective as it was felt she had not been "seen or heard for such a long time".In it, Sophia said she believed she would be "happier" and "taller" if her life had been different. Renner-Thompson, who is the council's cabinet member for children and young people, said he wanted to make sure the local authority had done everything it could to make sure a similar situation did not happen said one of the problems found in the report was, in some cases, there was little cross-checking between different agencies."There was one example where some police officers visited the home and they left saying everything is fine," he said. "A GP commented later that the fact the child was so small and in a wheelchair, despite being able to talk and being quite happy and bubbly, should have raised alarm bells."Renner-Thompson said the council's introduction of family hubs was a solution to that problem, as it allowed families with issues to be identified and for partner organisations to be brought together "in the same room". He said the report did not blame a single organisation and all process in place had been followed he admitted that while those processes worked 99% of the time, they were found to be lacking in "very extreme cases"."I think the conclusions of the review would say that if there were different processes in place, it could have been prevented," he said."This is why the processes involved have to be changed and have been changed, and have to be recognised as have being changed." Additional reporting by Rachel Sweeney. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Prudhoe High School safety report due 'imminently'
Investigations into damage that forced a school to close are said to be nearing are working to determine the cause of cracks that appeared in the structure of Prudhoe High School, in Northumberland, in building, which opened in 2016, has been closed for almost four months with pupils being taught 16 miles (25kms) away at Washington, near Cheviot Learning Trust academy chain, which runs the school, said the completion of tests was "imminent", adding: "We will then be able to update on how the building can be repaired." It said it would then allow plans to be formulated for September and government said it hoped to return pupils to the site as soon as possible.A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "We have worked closely with Prudhoe Community High School and the Cheviot Learning Trust to return students to face-to-face learning at the earliest opportunity."We are continuing to work with the school and the trust in next steps." Wait 'too long' Prudhoe Community High School cost £14.6m under the previous Conservative government's priority school building programme (PSBP).Tory councillor Guy Renner-Thompson, cabinet member for education at Northumberland County Council, said the DfE "needs to release the detailed report on the condition of the building" as soon as possible."The school building is still under warranty. It shouldn't cost the taxpayer anything to put right," he said."Parents and the council have waited too long for further information about the school."Renner-Thompson also said he continued to believe a site formerly used as Hexham Middle School was a more suitable solution than sending children to Washington and back on buses each council has said it offered the building to the DfE as an alternative but was turned middle school on Wanless Lane closed in 2021. It is 10 miles (16kms) from Prudhoe and benefits from existing transport links, according to Local Democracy Reporting DfS has not commented on reports it was offered the site. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
