A children’s home run by a reality TV star has been permanently closed after a tribunal judge upheld a decision to cancel its registration amid concerns about its care.
Ofsted decided in March 2024 that Real Housewives of Cheshire star Ampika Pickston and her firm AP Care Homes Limited should be “no longer be authorised to carry on the regulated activity” at Moss Farm Children’s Home, which cared for teenage girls.
Ms Pickston had appealed against the decision but a First-tier Tribunal (Health, Education and Social Care) ruled that the registration should not be reinstated.
Tribunal Judge Siobahn Goodrich and panel found a “significant” risk of “harm to the health, well-being and safety” of children at the home in Altrincham.
The judge said in the panel’s view the risk to the health, well-being and safety of the children had been “amply demonstrated by the objective consideration of the experiences of the children who have lived there”.
Among the concerns found by the what the tribunal termed “detailed and cogent” evidence of Ofsted inspectors was the high turnover of managers who clashed with Ms Pickston over her policies.
Ofsted cited her “problematic approach to staff” which had “overruled management decisions and demanded statements in support of her wild and unanchored views regarding views regarding Ofsted”.
They noted various safeguarding incidents involving one child placed in the home by a council, including going missing, causing extensive damage, threats of self-harm and threats to staff – the home terminated the placement when the child was at McDonalds with a social worker.
One staff member had reported concerns about the “huge lack of boundaries” where children were taken for expensive meals by Ms Pickston.
In one case a child’s parent complained that a child had been bought a pair of tracksuit bottoms worth £110 to attend a charity event where they would have their own table.
The staff member thought it was inappropriate a home for vulnerable girls should have its own Instagram account.
Ms Pickston took one girl to her home to choose a dress from her wardrobe, the panel heard.
The judge said Ms Pickston “sees herself as a benefactor which is in itself a laudable aim” adding that it “was to her credit” she refused to employ agency staff or offer zero hours contracts.
Ms Goodrich also recognised the home was in “high end in terms of facilities” and “in terms of comfort the view could be easily reached that any child would be lucky to live there”.
