Breach of human rights?

[friendoffamily]

Hi. My friend's nine-year-old is subject to a care order but lives with her father. My friend has supervised contact which used to be fortnightly for three hours. During the first lockdown of 2020, this was changed to virtual (face time) contact for thirty minutes. The LA then very quickly reduced contact to monthly, alleging that my friend's daughter was not engaging and that contact was upsetting her; it had always gone very well before lockdown. The LA stated that on return to face-to-face contact it would still be monthly for three hours each contact. They did not fulfill that and reduced it to two hours per month.
In the LA letter explaining their reasons for reducing contact, they stated that they had "discussed the decision with "relevant professionals" before deciding. They later claim that my friend was included in that discussion. She was not, she was not even made aware of a Looked After Child Review tree weeks prior to their decision, she was unable to represent her views at all and was very upset about it, especially ss she had emailed them several times, asking when a new IRO was to be appointed, ( the previous one had retired) she also asked when the next review was but was ignored.
My question is, have the LA broken human rights laws by not involving my friend in this decision? This is, by the way, only one example of this behaviour by this local authority.
My friend has now gone to court to try and increase contact, her daughter has been in care since 2017, being restricted to two hours a month in a contact centre cannot be good for her development. Contact has been recorded as excellent in contact notes for more than a year. It is notable that the LA have been asked to provide the court with all contact notes; the only ones they have not
provided are those for the period they
claim "upset" her daughter. Any views will be appreciated.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear friendoffamily

Welcome back to the Parents’ Forum and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear that your friend has had her contact with her daughter reduced.

As there is a care order for the child, children’s services are responsible for making and monitoring the arrangements for mother and child to see each other. Contact is always about the child’s needs so if children’s services’ consider that the frequency or length of contact is not right for the child and is causing her distress then they can reduce it. However, they should consult with the child’s parents; your friend should have been informed about and usually invited to the Looked After Child review, too.

She can, of course, contact the IRO directly about this or make a complaint.

As the child’s mother has now taken the matter back to court, then she can also raises all her concerns there. If she has legal representation her solicitor can advise her further about her concern about her human rights . She/her solicitor should, of course, request that the full range of contact notes are disclosed not specified ones.

Please see our advice on contact with children in care here and challenging decisions here.

I hope this helps

Best wishes

Suzie