The Education Review Office raised serious concerns about child safety at Gloriavale in a December letter that went unanswered for nearly six months, prompting questions about the government's coordination of its response to the West Coast community.

The December letter

ERO's then-acting chief executive Ruth Shinoda wrote to Oranga Tamariki chief executive Andrew Bridgman on 17 December following a special review of homeschooling by 28 families at Gloriavale.

The letter detailed concerns including the school's deliberate hiring of staff with criminal histories that made them unsuitable to work with children. ERO also found the school had not taken action in at least one case where student safety was at risk.

The Ministry for Children did not respond until 8 June, nearly six months later. The delay occurred because Shinoda's letter had been sent to an ex-staff member whose email was no longer being checked.

Shinoda emailed the Ministry's chief executive Amanda Malu on 9 March requesting an update. Three months passed before Malu replied to ERO's new acting chief executive Tim Fowler in June.

Minister's defence

Children's Minister Karen Chhour said she had asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation of how the email was handled.

"While a single email sent to a former staff member does not appear to have been responded to in writing, I have been assured that Oranga Tamariki engagement with the Education Review Office on these particular issues had already begun prior to the letter from ERO being sent," Chhour said.

She said "actions to address those concerns were underway at that time and have continued, confirmation of this was communicated directly to the ERO on a number of occasions both before, during and after this email was sent".

Chhour said key agencies including Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Education and police visit Gloriavale regularly to provide support.

"I can assure the public that multiple agencies visit the community regularly, sometimes several times a week," she said. "Agencies involved in this integrated response also meet fortnightly to ensure that all government interactions with the community are connected and any concerns are shared are quickly acted on."

Ministry's response

In her 8 June reply, Malu acknowledged the delay in responding to ERO's December letter. She said she did not think a new investigation was needed.

Malu had sought advice from Nicolette Dickson, Oranga Tamariki's chief social worker, who had met ERO staff the previous year to discuss specific concerns about safety and wellbeing.

"The concerns in your letter generally speak to known issues which are already the subject of the current cross government response to Gloriavale," Malu wrote. "For these reasons, I am in agreement with Nicolette that additional investigation by Oranga Tamariki into these concerns is not currently necessary or desirable under the Oranga Tamariki Act."

Ministerial visit

Senior minister Louise Upston visited Gloriavale in January to meet the Overseeing Shepherd, other leaders and the wider community. Upston is responsible for the government's response to recommendation 88 of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care, which requires government to ensure ongoing safety of children, young people and adults in care at Gloriavale.

"I've consistently made it clear the welfare of children in the Gloriavale community is our number one priority," Upston said.

Criticism of coordination

Gloriavale Leavers' Support Trust manager Liz Gregory said departments were not communicating effectively and there was no coherent multi-agency approach to Gloriavale's problems.

"There's a risk when staff who have a lot of expertise disappear, valuable knowledge disappears with them, communications break down and you get long delays and waits," Gregory said.

Gregory said little information was available about what Upston's visit achieved. She said government officials had written commitments for Gloriavale to uphold, which the community had helped shape and would now assess, but no one she had spoken to knew what those commitments were.

"There's all this sort of secrecy, internal reporting mechanisms," Gregory said.

She said it was unclear which agencies were part of the multi-agency response. "Things just feel a little chaotic, a little bit confusing and I think it would feel like that for people in Gloriavale as well."