Abuse claims: former residents of Manchester children’s homes offered compensation

Manchester Council has offered over £2.25m in compensation to 168 alleged victims of sexual or physical abuse in children’s homes across the city between the 1960s and 1980s.

The settlement, which all but five of the alleged abuse victims have accepted, follows a seven-year group action, sparked by a Greater Manchester Police probe into the abuse, which led to three convictions.

Peter Garsden, managing partner of Abney Garsden McDonald, the law firm that represented the claimants, said 70 other people had launched claims independently of the group action that remained outstanding.

The firm claimed that the police had received 350 allegations against 536 individuals relating to alleged abuse at 66 children’s homes in Greater Manchester, the vast majority of which have now closed.

Following the settlement, a Manchester Council spokesperson said: “We very much regret the abuse that occurred and the impact this has had on the individuals concerned. There are now far more effective systems and checks in place to prevent this kind of abuse – including stringent inspection and regulation.”