County council apologises for breach of court order in child protection case
Gloucestershire County Council has issued an unreserved apology after it was found to have breached a court order in a child protection case.
A spokesperson said that as part of the council’s efforts to safeguard a child, “members of our children’s social care team breached the terms of a previous court order”.
They added: “We also apologise to the child and the parents for our actions in this case and for any distress caused.
“This should never have happened and we have updated our policies and put in place safeguards, including ensuring that the assistant director or other senior officer will have oversight of all cases where action to remove children, who are subject to care orders, are being considered.”
Giving judgment, HHJ Wildblood said: “It is accepted by everyone involved in this case, including the local authority, that there were serious errors in the local authority’s handling of it.
“It is recognised that, as a result, immense distress has been caused to a family. The errors relate to the placement of a child at home under a care order and the subsequent removal of that child into foster care without notice to the mother.”
The child, who cannot be named, was placed at home with its mother under a care order made in November 2016 and was removed, wrongly and without prior notice, from the mother’s care on 1 June 2017.
On 19 June 2017 the mother applied for discharge of the care order and the application came to court on 14 July.
The judge noted that Gloucestershire’s barrister Sarah Pope said in her skeleton argument: “It is accepted on behalf of the local authority, with hindsight, that the immediacy and urgency of the concerns regarding the mother’s parenting and behaviour [that led to removal] fell far short of the threshold of significant and immediate risk of harm referred to in [case law].”
An Ofsted report published in June rated Gloucestershire’s children’s services, particularly safeguarding leadership and management, as inadequate, following which a new interim leadership team was appointed.
“The errors in this case occurred before the new leadership team took control and before the publication of the Ofsted report,” the judge said.
“To my mind the events in this case: give a clear example of the enormity of the task that now befalls that team.”
The judge said there had been inadequate regard paid to both the care plan and court process, a failure to follow regulation and lack of balance in assessments of the mother prior to the child’s removal.
He also criticised Gloucestershire over the manner of the child’s removal into foster care, which took place during a contact session with its father.
“The mother received a message that she should attend the offices of the social services,” the judgment noted.
“There, in the presence of a police officer, the mother was told that the child would not be returning to her. It was plainly wrong to act with that degree of subterfuge and immediacy.”
HHJ Wildblood said he would rule at a later date on the mother’s application.
Mark Smulian
