Social worker struck off for ‘deplorable’ failures

A MANCHESTER social worker has been struck off by a watchdog after pretending to visit a vulnerable child and speak to his parents.

Simon Manning was working for Manchester council when he was meant to be monitoring a twoyear-old child, known only as ‘Child A.’

The child was known to Social Services due to concerns about the relationship between his parents, as well concerns over his parents’ use of alcohol and domestic violence.

But a panel at the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service [HCPTS], which decides if social workers are fit to practice, said Mr Manning, who became a registered social worker in January 2015, had shown ‘a complete abrogation of the basic and fundamental duties’ in his handling of the case.

They heard Mr Manning’s failings, which took place over several months in mid-to-late 2015, included creating records which suggested he attended three visits to Child A which did not take place.

Visits that did take place were not carried out in the right time-frame.

The panel also heard Mr Manning created a Child and Family Assessment [CAFA], recording that he had had input from Child A’s parents when, in fact, he had not consulted them at all.

He also failed to transfer the case to neighbouring Trafford council when it was decided it should be in June 2015.

The panel decided four separate allegations had been proven and amounted to misconduct, meaning Mr Manning should be struck off.

It said: “The panel was satisfied that the registrant’s conduct fell seriously below the standards required of a registered social worker. “Child A was a very vulnerable child given the domestic circumstances outlined in the background matters. “The panel considered that the registrant’s failures in not visiting Child A in a timely manner, failing to transfer Child A’s case to another local authority, and falsifying records Leslie White in relation to Child In Need visits and a CAFA are deplorable and amount to a complete abrogation of the basic and fundamental duties required of a social worker.”

Panel chair Leslie White said: “The registrant’s misconduct involved a deliberate breach of trust. The misconduct was calculated and repeated over a sustained period of time.”

A Manchester council spokesman said: “This former employee left the council in 2016 after we terminated his employment.

“We referred the matter to the HCPC [Health and Care Professions Council]and concur with their decision.”