Care watchdogs get tough on under-fire residential school

CARE watchdogs are to ban council bosses from placing vulnerable teens at an under-fire residential school.

The Care Inspectorate will issue the ban after failing to convince a sheriff to shut down Moore House Care & Education over concerns about how it is being managed.

The privately-run home in Bathgate, West Lothian, cares for kids aged 11-16 from across Scotland with serious emotional and behavioural problems.

A sheriff rejected the care regulators’ plea to close the home two weeks ago.

But inspectors are set to issue the home’s bosses with an enforcement notice laying down a series of demands.

They will also order all of Scotland’s 32 councils not to refer children to the home for the foreseeable future.

A Care Inspectorate spokesman said: “Following the completion of an inspection, Moore House School will be issued with a formal enforcement notice which requires them to carry out a series of improvements.

“We will issue a notice proposing a stop on any further admissions to the service until the necessary improvements have been made. We are continuing to pursue the possibility of closure through the courts.”

The school is owned by Patricia Sheridan, 63, from Bo’ness, who is a director with husband Lee, 63. Another director is chief executive Tony Lappin, 46, who runs a life coaching clinic in Glasgow’s west end.

Moore House did not reply to our requests for a comment.