Sexual abuse compensation: reflections on the Lambeth Children’s Home Redress Scheme

From the 1950s to 1980s, some 7,000 vulnerable children passed through Shirley Oaks Children’s Home, run by Lambeth Council.

Hundreds of those children, aged between just a few months old and 14, many of whom were black, were subjected to sexual, mental and physical abuse over that 30-year period. The abuse was perpetrated by doctors, teachers, priests, sports coaches and other authority figures.

Thanks to the hard work of campaigners, cases soon emerged from 20 other smaller children’s homes run by Lambeth Council. Foster carers and social workers working for the council have also been accused of abuse.

A long-running Metropolitan police inquiry, Operation Middleton, which looked at all the children’s homes in Lambeth over a 20-year period, concluded at least 35 men and women had abused children.

But campaigners, such as the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA), clients of our firm, believe the situation was much worse. Detailed testimony provided to SOSA by former residents has led them to believe up to 120 paedophiles were abusing children over a 60-year period.

The Redress Scheme

In January 2018, Lambeth Council set up a two-part Redress Scheme for people who, as children, were abused or feared being abused at a Lambeth Children’s Home, and/or Shirley Oaks Primary School.

By August 2020, there had been more than 1,600 applications to the scheme, and more than £46 million had been paid in compensation to victims and survivors.

Imran Khan and Partners have represented over 150 applicants to the Redress Scheme, securing more than £3 million in compensation.

The Scheme has secured compensation for survivors in varying amounts, which has provided useful financial support, often at times of great need.

Whether the Scheme has provided justice for survivors is debatable. As our Imran Khan KC noted, however, in his opening statement to the Independent Inquiry into Child and Sexual Abuse, “our clients dreamed of being pilots, nurses, doctors and lawyers as children. Because of the abuse they suffered, those dreams were shattered. On leaving care, they were forced to face their futures alone, which became blighted by prison, prostitution, and substance abuse. What have they been offered by way of financial compensation for their lifetime of loss? About the same as what some professionals make in a year.”

Get in touch

The Redress Scheme closed to new applicants on 1 January 2022.

We continue to act however for people who suffered abuse in care homes and foster families across the country, including those within the borough of Lambeth.

You can read more about how we bring claims here, and the compensation you may be entitled to here.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual abuse, please contact us for confidential advice. We are here to help you take the next steps and will hold your hand throughout the process. To get in contact, call us on 020 7404 3004, or email us at info@ikpsolicitors.com. 

​We are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We can assist wherever you are based and have offices in central London.