I turn to the arrangements made for S. He lives with his mother. The Ward's home is a property, with 3½ acres of garden, leased to the MMs and MA in June 1993 for a term of 3 years. It has become home for NT and S. The conditions prevailing there are fully described in the social services reports which I will now refer.
At the hearing for directions in October 1993, it then appeared that the grandmother might not be able to continue to offer care to S. I directed Leicestershire County Council, as the appropriate Local Authority, to undertake an investigation of S's circumstances. I specifically requested that they investigate the following matters including education, medical care, investigations into child sex abuse in Leicestershire or elsewhere presently and in the past, police enquiries and most importantly I asked them to investigate:-
"How did the children present to the Social Workers? Are they happy children albeit in an unusual but still tolerable environment, or are they isolated and emotionally damaged victims of an oppressive religious fervour?"
I was fully aware when making that order that I was imposing a great burden upon the Local Authority's Social Services Department. It was wholly impracticable to furnish them with copies of the thousands of pages of evidence which had even then been presented to me. Time was comparatively short. Despite all those difficulties the Legal and Social Services departments responded magnificently to my request. I pay tribute to the care they took and I am most grateful to them for their report. I have already recited from the associated enquiries undertaken by the Education Authority who, of course, share these plaudits of praise. The Social Services Department reported to me as follows:-
Two experienced Social Workers made four visits to the Ward's home. The first two were unannounced and the team were there from 9 am to 4.30 pm and from 4.30 pm to 9.00 pm respectively. Two other pre-arranged visits one for a day and the other for two hours were made on other occasions. They set themselves these tasks:-
(i) the general demeanour of the children including their behaviour and spontaneity across the whole age range. There were then twenty children at the home ranging in age from S then one of three children under a year old to KAS aged 16.
(ii) to focus on any children who appeared withdrawn or whose behaviour caused them to stand out from the others.
(iii) to look for any signs of sexualized behaviour and language in the children.
(iv) interactions and relationships between children of different ages and between adults and children, including expectations of the children by the adults.
(v) attitudes of the adults to the outside world and how that was reflected in the children.
(vi) issues of discipline and how difficult behaviour was handled.
(vii) sleeping arrangements for the children.
They found that the house was well suited for the purpose of communal living by the five family units who were living there. Considerable time and effort had been spent refurbishing the property and bringing the kitchen, bathroom and heating facilities up to required standard. It was comfortably furnished throughout, clean and well maintained. Every detail of daily living, e.g. cleaning, preparation of meals, laundry and so forth was planned and schedules allocated the tasks between adults and responsible children. The Social Workers were told that advice from Berg and Maria based on The Family's experiences world wide of communal living and raising children guided their modus vivendi.
The Social Workers observed the daily routines and activities of the children who were divided into groups being the toddler group, young children, middle children, the JETTS and the teenagers. These were the reported conclusions:-
"1. We considered all the children we had met were happy, generally relaxed and confident.
2. Each family unit is clearly close and distinct within the overall community of The Family. The children, including the babies, all know their own parents and siblings.
3. The children are responsive and spontaneous. No child appeared withdrawn or difficult and there was no sign whatsoever of inappropriate sexual behaviour. The adults displayed positive and caring attitudes towards the children who obviously trusted them all.
4. Between all the age groups the children interacted well.
5. We were told both by adults and the children of contact with people outside the community e.g. an open day in the summer, assisting elderly people in the village and helping with someone's garden, and going to the village bonfire. There are outings to such places as swimming baths, parks and museums both in age groups and as family units. While this is sufficient for the younger children it seems the young people's lives are restricted to their own and other Family communities."
From their interviews it appeared that none of the adults believed there had been sexual abuse of children within The Family. They believed that there was no pressure put on individuals who had choice on issues of moving home, seeking medical attention and leaving The Family. Prayers for guidance would be said but it was generally thought to be pointless trying to make the disaffected stay against their will: communal living was not easy and all those involved had to be committed to make it work. The issue of discipline was not seen as a major one as the children grew up with love and positive attention and all responded to that. If any older children misbehaved sanctions such as withdrawing privileges were used but time spent listening and counselling was thought to be well spent. Teenagers were encouraged to make their own decisions but if they were angry or unhappy they too would receive counselling.
The children confirmed that they enjoyed living in The Family and although they could mix with people outside they tended to find enough within their own home or other Family homes to occupy their need. If they were experiencing problems, there was always an adult to whom to talk. There appeared to be no perception of people outside as evil. The Social Workers expressed the view that the children appeared not to be repeating what adults had told them and seemed to have thought things through for themselves. They accordingly concluded:-
"1. During our visit we have observed and heard nothing of concern with regard to any of the children living here.
2. We have seen all twenty children living here, spoken individually with several across the age range and talked more informally with most of the others.
3. The teenagers particularly impressed us with their practical skills e.g. H3 cooking for thirty people and KAS teaching a group of three younger children. The boys also learn practical skills e.g. J is able to help with plumbing and car mechanics.
4. The teenagers do not attain formal educational qualifications which could be seen as a disadvantage should they choose to leave The Family. According to MM, however, this is being considered and recently, e.g. H3 undertook a short course at a local college.
5. The teenagers and older children genuinely do not see any need to mix with similar aged children who live locally and are not connected with The Family. Because of this their experiences of other ways of living are necessarily restricted and choices about their futures are therefore not fully formed.
6. The Family according to MM is now making a conscious effort to become involved in the local community. On our last visit plans were well advanced to hold another open day for the villagers with a Christmas Concert. This may assist in the children meeting up with village children more.
7. S along with the other younger children are happy and secure in this environment. Their emotional development needs are met in close, loving relationships with parents and siblings and also through security and trust in their other carers. Child care routines and practices ensure that all their physical development needs are met. There is plenty of age appropriate activity for their mental development and socially they have many opportunities for inter action with the other adults and children living in the home. From our observations all these interactions are positive with genuine regard and care evident.
8. NT plans to remain in The Family with S and SB. Our observations and discussions with the older children at the Ward's home who have grown up in The Family suggest they are confident and happy.
Our only reservations are as outlined above about the restricted contact and understanding of the outside world which will limit his ability to make choices in later life about remaining in the family."
With particular regard to NT they reported that:-
"There is no doubt that NT is totally committed to S and also to The Family. S is currently thriving in this environment and all his needs fully met."
The purpose of my ordering that report was to give the Local Authority the opportunity to consider whether or not they wished to intervene in these proceedings in order to apply for a Care Order or a Supervision Order with respect to S or to provide services or assistance to S or his family or to take any other action with respect to the child. In other words this was an opportunity for the State, acting through the Local Authority, to intervene in a private family dispute and to seek public law remedies. The local authorities have public law duties to act to protect children in need. After a serious investigation by experienced social workers whose professionalism and objectivity commands respect, the recommendations of the Local Authority were:-
"Given all of the above the Local Authority does not intend at this stage to bring any proceedings under Section 31 of the Children Act 1989 for a Care Order or a Supervision Order in respect of S or any of the other children. The overall demeanour, health and welfare of the children seen are such that the Social Services Department does not consider it necessary at this stage to provide any voluntary services to The Family."
These conclusions have important consequences for me. The first is a legal consequence: the Children Act effected changes to the law which repealed the power of the Judge in Wardship to make a Supervision Order directed at the Local Authority if in the Court's discretion the exceptional circumstances of the case justified it. Now it is necessary for the Local Authority to apply and a Supervision Order cannot be foisted upon them. That being the letter and the spirit of the law, it would be quite inappropriate for me to impose conditions in any order I make with a view to monitoring S's progress hereafter. This is a truly exceptional case where the wider discretion repealed by Parliament might well have proved beneficial. But it is not to be.
The second important consequence is that I cannot overlook the favourable aspects of this report. I have evidence to similar effect from Dr Cameron and Dr Heller. Moreover I have evidence of similar observations of children in Family homes in America and in Australia. Though I am not bound by decisions taken by other Courts in other jurisdictions, there is more evidence of exoneration of The Family than of condemnation. I have received evidence from witnesses both within and outside The Family which leads me to suspect that The Family do have "sample homes". It may be all homes are equal if only in an Orwellian sense. Suspicion does not, however, justify a conclusion that conditions and practices in the other homes are necessarily bad though they may not be as good as the Ward's home. My views of the expert evidence I have heard are set out elsewhere and I was not always wholly convinced by all that was written or said. I am, however, reminded of words attributed to Abraham Lincoln that "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time." The broad and generalised observations and finding across the world therefore tend to confirm the specific conclusions of the Leicestershire County Council that by and large those living in Family homes, adults and children, seem content enough with their lot. I must still resolve whether that is good enough for S.
As I had requested of them, Leicestershire County Council made enquiries of other local authorities where the activities of The Family had come to the Social Services Departments' attention. Newcastle had an occasion to investigate one particular family but within the context of disputed divorce proceedings where nothing could be firmly established one way or the other as to the effect of The Family on the children concerned. I have already referred to the investigations conducted by Hertfordshire County Council with reference to SM's running away from Burnt Farm. The London Borough of Barnet carried out investigations in Hendon following reports in the press, the Daily Mail and the Hendon Times in November 1990. Those investigations were fruitless because The Family apparently vacated the premises virtually overnight. They visited another house in Cricklewood in London but that was inconclusive. The police received reports relating to Arkley and Pinner and eventually all three houses were raided by the police in January 1991. The adults refused to permit interviews with the children. Such enquiries as could be conducted gave rise to no cause for concern.
After the conclusion of the hearing, there was some publicity in the National Press relating to investigations conducted by the Metropolitan Police into the affairs of the Children of God and The Family. My attention was drawn to the report in the Daily Mail. I have not read the police report and although I am aware of their reported conclusions, I take no account of them. I have sufficient evidence placed before me to come to my own independent conclusions and the police report, like the reports of proceedings in foreign jurisdictions, fades into the background.
