Social work failures ‘tore our loving family apart’

● Legal threat to Scots authority after children wrongly taken into care

A damning report into the removal of two children from their mother by Moray Council social workers has revealed a catalogue of serious failures which led to a “significant injustice” against the family.

The woman involved – referred to as Mrs A – is threatening to sue the local authority over the failings, which are so severe the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) has placed its report before the Scottish Parliament to ensure all other councils note its 15 recommendations to prevent a repeat of the actions that left a family “traumatised”.

Council social workers, along with police, removed the two girls from their family home within five months of their mother seeking support for her elder child, who is autistic, and over two years continually breached their own regulations and policies.

The report by the SPSO states social workers failed to provide clear assessments of risk, made unfounded allegations about the woman’s mental health and denied the children the right to attend hearings about their care or include their feelings and views in what was happening to them.

They also placed the older child in a residential home for teenagers when she was only 11, and the other into foster care, without any attempt to have them live with extended family, despite offers from grandparents – and even failed to inform the parents when the younger child was hospitalised after being taken into care.

Furthermore, the ombudsman said it was “deeply concerning” that, when complaints were raised with the council, it did not act on them.

“The impact of these failings, both on Mrs A and her children should not be underestimated,” the report states. “This, together with the lost opportunity to learn lessons from the case when the complaints were first

raised, means the potential that these failings could reoccur, has not been acted on. This is deeply concerning.” The ombudsman adds the report has been made public “because of the significant personal injustice to Mrs A and her family arising from the failures identified; including significant local complaint procedure failings”.

The Scotsman understands the woman only had her elder daughter returned when she moved to another council district, while her younger girl is now living with her estranged husband.

The family cannot be named for legal purposes but the mother said: “Our family was torn apart and our children traumatised and damaged by their treatment by the social work service of Moray Council.

“Asking for assistance and support in coping with a child with special needs led to us experiencing a nightmare of aggressive and unprofessional interventions, and the unnecessary and traumatic removal of the children by uniformed police. Worse, our children had to suffer over 18 months of loss of the love and care of their family while they were in the ‘care’ of the council.”

The ruling comes just four months after SPSO criticised Moray Council for failing in its duties to support another vulneramother ble youngster and was ordered to improve its complaints handling process.

Maggie Mellon, of the Parents Advocacy and Rights (PAR) charity, which supported the mother in her complaint against the council, said its actions sounded a warning to all parents.

“If this committed and capable mother could lose her children, and the children suffer separation from each other and from their entire family for nearly two years, it could happen to any family,” she said. “This is especially where there are one or more children with special needs.

“I am very pleased that the SPSO has recognised the seriousness of the failings of Moray Council in this case. It is disturbing that senior managers in the council consistently refused to recognise the concerns about their decisions and actions that were brought to them very early on by firstly the family and then by me in my professional capacity.”

Moray Council said: “We accept the findings of the SPSO and will issue apologies to those involved.

“We have also liaised with SPSO and agreed a number of recommendations that we will put in place to address the identified failings in this case.”

PAR trustee Taliah Drayak said the case underlined the charity’s belief that there was an “urgent need for reform of our child protection and care systems”.

She said: “Too many children are removed “through the back door” by the improper use of emergency procedures”.