Late on Friday, lawyers acting for the States made contact with Alan Collins to say they would like to discuss the issue of the harsh physical regime at Les Chênes ‘as soon as possible’.
Their contact followed a report in Friday’s JEP revealing that, in the absence of substantive progress, legal action was imminent.
A source within government said they had been ‘panicked’ by this newspaper’s coverage and realised their previous commitment to discuss the issue in the coming months ‘wasn’t good enough’.
Mr Collins said: ‘I welcome this, even though this is long overdue. The States should have acted a lot sooner but they have made contact and indicated their wish to meet with me. It is a step in the right direction.’
The meeting between Mr Collins and lawyers representing the States of Jersey is expected to take place within the next two weeks.
In the past month 12 further former residents of Les Chênes have come forward following the JEP’s reporting, which has included accounts of children who said they were forced into solitary confinement cells, stripped naked, and ignored when they thought they were being poisoned by fumes.
Former residents have described how their experiences have had life-long effects, leading to drug and alcohol misuse, depression and attempted suicides.
Last week, one former resident told the paper: ‘It’s messed up my life to the point where I tried to take my life. I suffer from post-traumatic stress. I am in a relationship now but I can’t even sleep with my clothes off because I was so used to being stripped naked or down to my boxers and thrown in the cells.’
Up to 100 former residents who attended Les Chênes in the 1990s and 2000s were working with their lawyer to commence court action in the absence of both a formal apology and redress scheme.
The compensation previously offered to victims of historical abuse did not cover the timeframe during which the complainants attended Les Chênes. The secure school was subsequently closed down.
A States of Jersey spokesperson said: ‘It is essential that if a new redress scheme is established by the Council of Ministers, it is properly designed to ensure that abuse survivors receive appropriate redress. We must make sure that any such scheme is the right scheme, and this takes time. It requires detailed research and investigation, which has been ongoing for a number of months.’
‘We have asked to meet, in the coming days, with the lawyer representing abuse survivors to update him on progress. As previously stated, it is anticipated that a decision will be taken by ministers before the end of this year as to whether a new redress scheme should be brought forward.’
