Council Attack 'Inaccurate' Coverage
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| Council Attack 'Inaccurate'
Coverage 16 August 2005 Essex County Council publishes the couple not clever enough High Court Judgement (PDF) Source: Essex County Council Essex County Council Chiefs have condemned articles in the national press about the work of Essex Children's Services as 'inaccurate and unfair to both parents and social workers'. Tracey Chapman, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Children's Services said "There seems to be no link between the findings of the court and the articles as they appeared in the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday." “The role of local authorities and Family Courts when parents are not actively hurting but are failing to support their children effectively is a legitimate matter for the press to debate. To do so by casting dedicated social workers as pantomime villains – ‘Child Snatchers’ - and by comparing them to a ‘dictatorship’ is frankly disgraceful.” “I am genuinely sorry for the family concerned in this case – both for the heartbreaking situation in which they find themselves and for having their private details spread across national media. Our concerns are always to ensure the well being of children, and the Judge in this case made clear in the judgement that: ‘No Judge would make such an order unless satisfied the risks to the child were so great that his welfare positively demanded alternative provision away from his natural family’. It is not our role to pass judgement on parents, but rather to ensure that children are safe and protected. Society has placed that responsibility with us. I have absolutely no doubt the staff at Essex County Council, who dedicate their working lives to the protection of children, are amongst the best in the country. We have recently undergone our regular inspection by the Social Care Inspectorate and Ofsted and I am positive that it will find our staff perform to the highest standards.” “In the vast majority of cases our staff work to support families through difficult times and ensure that children remain with their birth parents. The judgement, which I am having published on our website, makes clear the high standards of care that Essex County Council provides to both parents and children, and how carefully all factors are considered when a child is taken into care. It makes clear the many checks and balances in the system, and highlights that the social workers are only one of the many groups providing expert support and advice to families and children.” |
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