Today, the 25th of May, 2018, is the anniversary of our raising a Stage 2
complaint against Cyngor Gwynedd Council, on the advice of the
Ombudsman for Wales.
One year in a process that should take 28 days - and it is still not completed.
More - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/
On the 23rd May, 2018, Cyngor Gwynedd Council finally released to us an
unredacted copy of an email written by a Gwynedd Council manager
containing our personal information.
They had no right to censor our personal information, this was done
deliberately, to prevent us from reading unprofessional and disparaging
comments made about us by a senior social work manager.
It should have been released to us in October, 2016 in accordance with our Subject Access Request.
An Information Manager dealing with the issue says there was no
legitimate reason for it to be redacted or denied us, this was not the
only email that was redacted in this same manner, for the same reasons,
from the same manager.
19 months to obtain all the information allowed us by Law under the Data Protection Act.
A process that should take a maximim of 40 days.
We now wonder whether or not the Council provided us with all that we were entitled to at that time.....or not...who knows ?
Something is so badly wrong within Gwynedd Council.
More - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/
Re the outcry over the child abuse scandal in #Telford and those calling
for an Independent Inquiry into those who failed the children....
Gwynedd Council - who were closed down after they failed the county's
children in their own sexual abuse scandal of the 90's - have twice
sanitised a recent 'Independent Report' into their Social Services
department.
The abuse of children in Gwynedd and Clywd was only allowed to continue
by those in authority maintaining a 'wall of silence' for decades.
Gwynedd Council, for whatever reason, chose to turn a blind eye and the
whistleblower, Alison Davies - was actually sacked by the council for
raising concerns.
It has become apparent that a 'wall of silence' still remains in Gwynedd
with no-one willing or able to confront unprofessional and bad
behaviour by senior managers within the council.
Sshh no criticism allowed.
The abuse of children in Telford began just after the creation of the New Town in the early 70's.
Just as in North Wales, the authorities at the then Wrekin Council and
the local Police turned a blind eye. In fact, the local CID used to hunt
down and return those 'children in care' who had fled from the abuse
they were no doubt suffering in the council run homes in Wellington.
Sshh.
The authorities in North Wales sat on the Jillings Report into the abuse
of children for 20 years - on the orders of the council's insurers -
now Zurich International.
There was an Asian gang operating in Telford in the 70's as were White
Gangs. There were also huge problems with #Unemployment #Racism and
#Heroin. Too many unexplained deaths and mysterious 'suicides'.
The old Wrekin Council have questions to answer along with the now defunct Telford Youth Council, local Churches and the Police.
An Independent Inquiry into the abuse of children in Telford will fail
just as in North Wales, Rotherham, Islington etc etc. No-one will be
held to account.
An Independent Inquiry is too easily sanitised and the truth covered up -
a Public Inquiry would stand a better chance at getting to the truth
and the abusers and those who profited from the abuse punished.
But be in no doubt....the abuse of children and vulnerable people continues.
Sshh.....
More on Gwynedd council - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/
Recently on SNJ's Facebook page, someone accused us of being too hard
on local authorities who were 'trying their best'. Actually, I know
first hand that many, many people working in LAs really are working
diligently and with very large caseloads. I would encourage parents who
have had a good experience to tell us about it, so we can herald good practice.
However - there's always a however, unfortunately - too often parents
are still being told the wrong information or LAs are not playing by
the rules (i.e, the law). Too many in SEND and in social care
departments are still behaving as if the Children and Families Act was
just a bad dream, best ignored. This is very perplexing to me as the law
is clear to read and to follow, so what's happening to make compliance a
bonus rather than the minimum expected?
Recently, I heard about something happening to a number of families
regarding attempts to get social care help, that needs to be
highlighted. Hopefully those who ARE doing good work in LAs can make
sure it doesn't happen in their departments.
Nathan Davies of solicitors HCB, has written to explain what, in his experience, has been happening.
Threatened with care proceedings after asking for support...
It is common, in my experience, for parents of children with autism
to feel that concerns expressed to local authority professionals are
often discarded, or that there is a distinct lack of understanding of
the condition itself. This leads to disputes and disagreements between
the parties. These issues tend to arise once parents have realised that
they cannot continue without extra support or an alternative placement
be sourced for their son or daughter. The request being made is often
the trigger point for intervention in some form by the authority;
usually via its social services department.
The prevalence of social services intervention has steadily risen in recent times. In practice, the possibility of it being
initiated by the authority remains on the increase, despite this being a
highly controversial, and often inappropriate, tactic.
Your word against theirs
The problem parents in this position face is that it is often their
word against that of school staff or local authority professionals and
that is never a good starting position. The root issue however, is the
aforementioned lack of understanding of the condition itself. Those on
the high-functioning end of spectrum often present very differently
across a variety of settings. The fact that a child presents as very shy
and reserved in school and then explodes into one exhibiting
challenging behaviour at home, is very hard for some professionals to
fathom and can lead to them questioning parenting ability.
Parents struggling to cope and requiring additional support in the
family home, are often deterred by the threat of intense scrutiny and
criticism by social services. The possibility of raising child
protection issues or launching even care proceedings (in extreme cases)
are tools local authorities are increasingly using, especially during
these times of austerity and public sector cuts. But cuts can in no way
be an excuse for such unnecessarily heavy-handed approaches being
employed.
Nathan Davies
Professional guidelines
The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has guidelines
relating to standards of conduct, performance and ethics each registrant
must uphold (this includes social workers). One of the pillars of
practice is for the professional to ‘work within the limits of their knowledge and skills’.
Given this, it is fundamental to ensure that each professional is
appropriately trained and/or knowledgeable to a reasonable degree in
autism to discharge their duties to the child and family appropriately.
If this is not done, one cannot expect a proper assessment of their
social care needs to be undertaken; thereby polluting the entire
process. Without such understanding of the condition, the HCPC
guidelines specify that the matter should be referred to another
practitioner if what the chid needs would be beyond the scope of their
practice but this is rarely, if ever, done. It cannot be emphasised
enough how important this is, especially when it is a requirement for
each HCPC registrant to ‘promote and protect the interests of service users and carers’.
Below are some anonymised case examples which show how these strategies are being used by local authorities throughout the UK:
Case Study 1:
This concerned parents in England of a child with high-functioning
ASD. Given her high-achievements at school, the child had attended
mainstream school well into her teenage life (without an EHCP). Even
when concerns were raised over challenging behaviour in the home as a
result of her inability to cope at school, these were immediately
treated as the parents over-exaggerating the child’s difficulties, even
after they had secured a diagnosis for her from a multi-disciplinary
team in the private sector.
The local authority, when requested to assess her additional learning
needs, took action; they proceeded with social services intervention, a
flawed and malicious assessment and subsequently placed the child on
the Child Protection Register. After seeking legal advice, the family
challenged the authority, ultimately leading to a retraction. The child
has now been issued with an EHCP with the SEN Tribunal agreeing that a
specialist ASD placement be named.
Case Study 2:
This related to a family in South Wales, who again experienced great
difficulties with their local authority. The child had a diagnosis of
Pathological Demand Avoidance but the parents had been unsuccessful in
securing a specialist placement for their son via the Tribunal process,
with the assistance of an advocate.
Given the extreme levels of aggressive behaviour in the home
environment (and his inability access a school at all), it was
imperative for the authority to accommodate the child, pursuant to
section 20 of the Children Act 1989. The authority did so, but
thereafter sought to target the family with a variety of unfounded
allegations, unlawful s.47 investigations and blame for the child’s
behaviour was attributed to perceived ‘bad parenting’, a manifestly
unreasonable position to hold.
These issues were appropriately resolved in the parents' favour, who
were issued with a comprehensive and unreserved apology from the
director of social services. The child now attends a suitable local
provision and is thriving.
We need to be aware...
Unfortunately, scenarios such as the above are becoming more common
and intimidation of parents who are simply trying to get help for their
child is often difficult for many to comprehend. Parents being penalised
or vilified for seeking support for their disabled child is not right
in any society, yet it appears that in 21st century Britain
this is perfectly acceptable in some LAs. Awareness of this issue being
made known to the public can only help parents in similar situations.
Unlike the report last year authored by Margaret Kenealy Jones, this
report has not been used to revise history nor used as a vehicle to
whitewash unprofessional behaviour and systemic failings within the
children's department of Cyngor Gwynedd and this is to be welcomed.
Saying that the report does appear to have some glaring ommissions and anoma-lies -
"Over the years, the Customer Care Officer have successfully managed to
establish close working links with the teams, managers and the legal
section as a means of discussing and resolving issues. This is reflected
in the low number of complaints reaching Stage 2 of the Complaints
Procedure.
It is fair to say that there has been a clear trend over the past 3
years, that theChildren and Family Support Department have not had a
complaint escalate toStage 2. This is down to the professionalism the
Team Managers and SeniorManagers show when dealing with complainants;
they understand theimportance of a local resolution and by discussing
directly with the complainant they are able to address matters as soon
as possible..."
Er...but Mrs Hughes there is a stage 2 complaint ongoing against
Children and Family Support Department raised on the 25th May and due
for completion any day now. Why has the complaint not been included in
your report figures ?
I notice the Adult services acknowledge there is an ongoing stage 2
investigation and though not completed is included in their figures.
Marian Parry Hughes also crows that the department have had no complaint escalate to stage 2 over the past three years.
But that is down to one senior manager, Aled Gibbard, closing a
complaint - without informing the complainant and your department
refusing to escalate another complaint to the second stage, hence the
intervention of the Ombudsman.
And knowing that to then go on and write -
"In comparison with other Local Authorities in North Wales, it is
understood that Gwynedd have been successful in managing complaints at
Stage 1 whereas other Local Authorities have a higher proportion of
complaints progress to Stage 2".
and diss the conduct of other LA's in Wales is...distasteful to say the least.
More info on Gwynedd Council here - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/
I notice Cyngor Gwynedd appear not to have updated their website
and still make no mention that one of the cases that they reference has
been ongoing for years.
First contact with the Gwynedd Children and Supporting Families Team was in 2007/8 and was appalling.
The family had to endure missed appointments, staff that were
untrained and abusive comments from those involved in the child’s care.
MSBP and poor parenting were all thrown at the family.
One so called professional, Dawn Wimpory, failed to diagnose the child and so many years have been wasted because of it.
Perhaps you should have tried engaging him with music therapy, Dawn ?
That would have taken longer than the 20 minute consultation you gave the child.
A comment from one of the service managers in a review meeting “If
he was my child…..” led to the manager going off sick when the
Independent Investigators tried to interview him for an explanation.
An illness that lasted for months and so the report was published without him being interviewed.
The report does mention Llyr Ap Rhisiart’s absence and the fact
that when he does finally return from illness he would not be in the
same job.
But the question remains, Mr Ap Rhisiart.
What would you have done with the child who has Autism, PDA and other complex issues if he was yours ?
Someone even suggested clearing the child’s bedroom and locking them in.
The child was 7 years old.
The Investigators found 16 points of complaint and bad practise – including lost correspondence and files – all upheld.
That was in 2010 and nothing has changed. In fact, the situation is far worse.
So I say again to Cyngor Gwynedd raising a complaint does not make
people unreasonable – it simply means that unprofessional standards and
bad behaviour should always be challenged.
Preparing paperwork for the meeting with the independent invesigators
dealing with my stage 2 complaint against Gwynedd council, I was
astonished by the council's use of a black marker to censor comments
made by managers to other agencies involved with the family.
The investigators were more shocked than I and told me there was no need
or reason for council staff to censor and it should not have happened.
Then I discovered Gwynedd council had also sent me the personal information of another person.
A
stage 2 complaint from 2010 showing serious failings in the Children
and Family Department at Cyngor Gwynedd was upheld by Independent
Investigators.
From
2014, meetings and decisions made concerning a child's future were
being held behind closed doors by managers and a social worker without
the knowledge of the parents or professionals involved in the case.
Worse
was the fact that a social worker and other professionals were being
ignored....as they raised concerns the child's needs were not being met.
A social worker who acted without thought for the code of ethics that he has agreed to uphold.
Or
worse - a social worker who has been instructed by managers to behave
so....inappropriately and against the interests of a vulnerable child -
the client.
The jury is still out.
A
failure of the children and families department to deliver the services
granted by Gwynedd social services and when they finally appeared -
after having their arm twisted by a solicitor - were shockingly bad.
So
bad that a complaint was raised and which Aled Gibbard closed -
against statutory policy - and also without informing anyone !?!?
Kenealy Jones - you said a search was made for the letter to Mr Gibbard he claims he never received. Did you look in the bins ?
I have sighted your email to your colleague, Aled, voicing your concern about where this case could go.
The
service(!) provided involved the support worker - yes him of the grunts
and no feedback - leaving the client alone in a car when he attended to
his own bits and pieces.
You did read the risk assessment, Iolo - yes ?
Is it council policy to leave vulnerable clients alone when in their care ?
All of this even before I asked the #Plaid_Cymru MP, Liz Saville Roberts for support.
Liz, who shook my hand, looked me in the eye and said "vote for me... and contact me if you ever need help".
MP's tut - some of them will say anything to get your vote.
Ah yes - I cancelled the meeting with the social worker.
The partner had become ill with the stress and nastiness of it all and
my daughter had just suffered a miscarriage - all this and dealing with
the light and dark side of PDA - it was a relief to use the time to calm
down and think...
The social worker turned up anyway.
Lowri Williams, customer care(!) wrote later "...the Service felt that cancelling the meeting was not appropriate,"
Mr Haydon also wrote a report to his managers describing the meeting with me.
Jamie, I have seen a copy of your report and I hardly recognise your version of events.
Will the report be updated to include how you foot shuffled and spent
most of our exchange staring at the floor like a scoolboy , mumbling -
"You haven't made a complaint about me, have you ?"
Will you update the report to include the fact that your managers,
Melvin Panther and Sharron Williams Carter sent you to my house knowing
that I had raised issues with your bad behaviour and the meeting
cancelled - without informing you ?
Do you think that is "appropriate" behaviour from your managers, Jamie ?
Jamie, in your report you call me 'agitated' when I answered the door -
that was a mixture of horror and anger at your presence until I realised
that you had been set up.
What manager would send an employee out to visit someone who was upset and not even advise them ?
Were they hoping for confrontation ?
A council which withdrew
one-to-one support for a man with learning difficulties has apologised
to his mother and paid him £500 for the distress caused.
Gwynedd Council was told
to take the remedial action after being found guilty of
maladministration by the Public Services Ombudsman.
It follows a
complaint from the mother – identified only as Mrs X – that the change
had had a significant detrimental effect on her son, who was a young
adult with cerebral palsy and mild learning difficulties.
He had
been receiving nine hours of one-to-one support each week, but in
January, 2015, the authority said the service would end, even though the
client had not been reassessed.
A social worker said that the
council had been “over-servicing” and that the man did not meet
eligibility for one-to-one support.
Instead he was offered group
sessions on alternate Saturday mornings, but the family’s GP expressed
concern about the impact on him and called for the one-to-one support to
be reinstated.
In response to the Ombudsman, the council accepted
there had been shortcomings in the process and that alternative support
should have been put in place before the one-to-one support was
stopped.
As a result, greater consultation now takes place with
service users and their families when changes were proposed, the council
said.
Appalling behaviour from Gwynedd council social services - again.
Gwynedd social services were told last year that withdrawing support without re-assessing needs is illegal so why continue ?
Who will be paying the fine ?
The social worker who failed to protect the vulnerable man in his duty of care ?
The manager who ok'd the illegal action ?
Or will the money be paid by out of the MILLIONS in the bank held as Cyngor Gwynedd's usable reserves ?
