Councillors kept in dark over failings in child protection
Hamish Hutchinson • Published 22 Dec 2011 08:00
2 Comments
A CULTURE of secrecy has been blamed for the decision to conceal from councillors a Sheriff's judgement lambasting social services.
Ex-council chief executive Angela Leitch and head of social work Deirdrie Cilliers knew of the contents of the judgement when it was released in June.
But it wasn't until the end of October when portfolio holder Janet Cadenhead and new council boss Elaine McPherson were informed - and only after they were approached by SNP group leader Gary Womersley.
The decision came to light as councillors discussed the issue at a special meeting last Wednesday.
As exclusively revealed by the Advertiser, Alloa Sheriff David Mackie referred to "fundamental systemic failures" in the social work department such as a culture of poor record-keeping, in relation to the care of a child.
In some cases important notes of contact visits, visits to parents or foster carers had only been written shortly in advance of court dates - sometimes years after the actual events - and were described as "lazy, inaccurate, cryptic, and subjective" by the sheriff.
He concluded that there were practice concerns "beyond the scope of these proceedings".
At Wednesday's meeting, Chief Social Work Officer Ms Cilliers confirmed that she had "a number" of meetings to discuss the sheriff's findings with the then-chief executive of Clackmannanshire Council.
Ms Cilliers said she had "identified issues" from the sheriff's conclusions in her monthly progress report to portfolio holder, councillor Cadenhead.
Asked whether a decision was made at the meeting with the ex-council chief to keep the sheriff's conclusions out of the public domain, she said, "I don't know if that was explicitly said. The issue was how we take it forward and that was the focus of the meeting."
Councillor Cadenhead and Ms McPherson first became aware of the contents of the Sheriff's conclusion when Councillor Gary Womersley brought it to their attention at the end of October.
Councillor Cadenhead thanked Mr Womersley for bringing the sheriff's judgement to the attention of her and the chief executive.
She said, "Regardless of the permanency issues the workers in social services are dedicated and hard-working.
"We have some top notch social workers and they are often not appreciated."
Pressed on why the new chief executive was not informed, Ms Cilliers said at the time of her appointment in September "we were already working on an action plan".
Councillor Mark English said, "I think it is a disgrace due to the gravity of the Sheriff's concerns that the new Chief Executive wasn't informed, a disgrace that council was not informed of the report so we could take action.
"It's the most vulnerable in our county we should be protecting. We have got to be open transparent and mature enough to discuss it in an open forum."
Following the October meeting, there were further discussions between Ms Cadenhead and Mr Womersley and Ms McPherson.
An independent review was drawn up (to be completed in March) and a briefing was held for all councillors on 5 December.
The British Association of Adoption & Fostering has also been commissioned to take forward some of the actions to improve permanency work.
Those measures to improve the department include further staff training in case recording and greater scrutiny from senior management.
Councillor Craig Holden said he was "grateful" that the issue was revealed in the Advertiser.
He said, "If it hadn't been I don't think we would be discussing it today. I don't think I would have been made aware. I'm happy we have an action plan to deal with these things. The issue is the non-disclosure to elected members.
"There is a culture of secrecy and non-disclosure in this council and there has been for some time. They don't get it that these things don't remain secret and when it does come out it becomes more damaging to the council."
Councillor Bobby McGill said he was "disappointed" that the issue was brought out in the paper.
He said, "I don't think it helps to drive the agenda forward we require - which is getting the best for out kids. The important thing is we scrutinise the review when it comes back to us."
This article appeared in Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser 21 Dec 11
Have your say. Post a comment on this article.
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Granny23
4 posts
Dec 23, 16:43
Report commentJanet Cadenhead quote = 'Ah didnae ken'.
Elaine McPherson quote = 'Ah didnae ken'
My quote = 'How NO?'
Recommend?
Yes 3
No 1
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Warren peace
Unregistered User
Jan 3, 15:23
Report commentTruth is you wouldnt let them run a bath, the Council offices are awash with pople who dinnae ken..But old pals act sees who get the jobs and not who is better qualified for some of the positions these people hold.
They should all hang thier head in shame, its no wonder Angie leach done a runner, mind you she did a not bad job of running things..LOL
Recommend? Yes 4
No 0
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