Families call for inquiry into residential care charity that ran up £1.6m debt

Key Highlights

• The charity’s accounts show auditors have routinely questioned whether it is a viable business. The families say the wellbeing of residents is in jeopardy and public money is at risk.
• They have questioned why the charity has paid more than £800,000 in strategy fees and £240,000 in consultancy fees to a company owned by the charity’s chair, despite its deteriorating finances. It now faces an investigation by the Charity Commission, which told the Guardian it had opened a regulatory compliance case into potential governance concerns.
• West Northamptonshire council said it was in ongoing discussions with the charity over what it called “serious governance and financial issues”. William Blake House is a specialist residential care facility in Northamptonshire providing a therapeutic “person-centred” approach guided by the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Rudolf Steiner.
• Councils and the NHS spend about £3m a year on places at the charity. The charity’s 22 adult residents have learning disabilities, autism and complex care needs requiring round-the-clock support.
• The families have no criticism of the quality of care provided but fear the future care of their relatives has been put at risk. A statement by 17 of the families said: “Our relatives are some of the most vulnerable adults in society and entirely dependent on stable, continuous care.