My kids have told me the social workers have lied

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Runnermum16

I see that you have several posts on 24th May and I will respond to them in this post.

Firstly, in your post you mention speaking to your children about several things including the court case. Whilst it is important that you are able to speak to your children, the court might take a less then positive view of children being involved in conversations about the details of court proceedings. I am not saying this is what happened in this situation but highlighting it for your benefit.

Your children you say have told you that the social worker has not told the truth about their behaviour when they met with her. That she exaggerated things about them. Have you shared the report with your children?

I believe your children now reside with their father so I am not sure why a social worker is still involved with the family. Is there still child in need or child protection plans in place for the children? Since you have been in private law proceedings where the social worker would have been asked by the court to do a section 7 report, it is not entirely clear why they are still involved. It would be possible to question the social worker about what is said in the report if you wish to challenge her account.

From your second post, you are due to have a further hearing remotely. Unfortunately, due to the current covid-19 situation, a number of cases are being dealt with in this way. Ideally, it should run in the same way as your previous hearings depending on what the hearing is about and what the court is to decide at that hearing. The judge, yourself and other parties will identity who they are and their role in the case.

From what you say it appears that your children’s father has not discussed the case in any detail with them and, should he become aware that you have, it might be something he will want tell the judge about.

You say your children’s father has made a number of allegations about you, whilst denying wht you have said in your application. He continues to mention the relationship you had with someone on the sex offenders’ register even though you felt forced to end it. It may be a concern for him that you may put the children at further risk although your children’s safety is what you have said is important. It may be the restrictions the court has imposed on the court order are considered to be appropriate at the moment.

Regarding the prohibited steps order, you could ask the court to discharge this if you do not consider that it is necessary. Alternatively you could ask the court to amend it by putting in an end date. Ultimately, it may be discharged by the court at the final hearing.

In your final post you refer to advice from your legal team and the social worker’s supervisor regarding the allocation of a new social worker and the time this might take. Will you be having ongoing involvement with children’s services, it appears they have agreed a change of social worker. This suggests that the concerns you raised regarding the social worker has been taken into account including as part of your formal complaint, which you say acknowledged that the social worker is inexperienced.

It is correct that the local government ombudsman will not deal with cases which are in court or decisions made by the court as it is outside of its remit. If you wish you continue with your complaint with children’s services then you should ask to go to the next stage of the complaints procedure. See advice sheet Challenging decisions and making complaints

I have attempted to deal with the issues you have raised in your posts although it was not absolutely clear the advice you are seeking. Where possible I have responded to the actual questions you have asked.

As explained previously, your court case is a private law matter and you can make contact with Child Law Advice on 0300 330 5480 who offers advice relating to private law matters.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie