Gearing up to livetweet the Herefordshire Extraordinary General Meeting at 10am tomorrow, which will discuss the *fourth* excoriating judgment by Mr Justice Keehan in three years, re its latest children's social work catastrophe - and that is not too strong a word #herefordEGM 1/
Anyone interested in attending, it's a remote EGM being livestreamed here: #herefordEGM 2/
The letter starts: "HerefordshireCouncil is deeply sorry that it has failed to safeguard and look after the welfare of the children and their family... #herefordEGM 5/
And ends by saying there is a new improvement strategy (echoes of a previous promise made by the same DCS to the same judge in 2018 after the first of four horrendous judgments) - this one, the judge is told, will be different because... #herefordEGM 6/
"is that a new CE, Paul Walker, and an independent chair of an impr' board and the chair of the children’s s'guarding board, will monitor delivery of the required reforms within defined timescales and together drive+ deliver the required performance and outcomes.” #herefordEGM 7/
I decided to look back through the Herefordshire children's services department Ofsted inspections. It was rated 'Requires Improvement' in 2014... #herefordEGM 8/
In 2018 it was rated 'Requires Improvement' in three areas and 'Inadequate' in 'The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families' #herefordEGM 9/
The 2018 report said: 'Leaders and managers have not secured an environment in which good-quality social work practice can flourish, and the majority of core practice requires improvement.' #herefordEGM 10/
There have been two 'focused' Ofsted visits since then. The first one wasn't great. The second one, in January 2020, was pretty awful (files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/501434…) #herefordEGM 11/
It said: 'The local authority has made little progress in improving the quality of practice for children in need and those subject to a child protection plan since the last inspection.' #herefordEGM 12/
It also noted that newly qualified, so inexperienced, social workers, had very large and inappropriate caseloads: "one new social worker has been in post for only eightweeksand has 19 cases. It is also in relation to types of case allocated...' #herefordEGM 13/
'Several newly qualified social workers were seen to have complex cases in care proceedings and on child protection plans.' #herefordEGM /14
I'll be tweeting on this thread from just before 10am tomorrow, and wonder how different the remote nature of this meeting will feel from the last EGM I attended and live tweeted in 2018, when the mood was outraged and distinctly febrile #herefordEGM /15
I'm doing this on a completely voluntary basis, because I think it's important to hold the state to account in public when things go so terribly wrong, so if anyone feels like bunging a few quid to my Patreon, I will be very grateful! patreon.com/louisetickle#herefordEGM /16
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Morning all. Am getting ready to live tweet the @HfdsCouncil Extraordinary General Meeting, starting at 10am, following the judgment of Mr Justice Keehan in a case where the council has apologised for comprehensively failing a family... #herefordEGM
..., and, amongst other appalling social work/management failures, a child's life support was withdrawn thanks to wrong legal advice + a DCS who chose to exercise shared parental resp to give permission for the child to die before her mother could reach the hospital #herefordEGM
Current set up - three screens needed! #herefordEGM
Absolutely massive uplift in cases reported by Cafcass in its monthly figures for March 2021 - headlines: 30.7% or 1,472 more cases than March 2020. Highest ever number for March on record.
Comparing the quarter ending March 2020 with this year, there are (for 2021) fewer public law, or care cases, and more private law cases (parental separation with child dispute).
Figures are: An increase in total case demand (3.9% / 612 cases);
• A reduction in new public law cases (5.4% / 233 cases);
• An increase in new private law cases (7.5% / 845 cases).
I've just launched the 'Prevent Domestic Homicides crowdfunder to get @JMoncktonSmith's vitally important book 'In Control - Dangerous Relationships And How They End In Murder' to all 342 Community Safety Partnerships across the UK. bit.ly/3wUC9qk
Thanks to @Julie_Aunger1, who told us about her daughter Katie Wilding who died in 2016, in the flat of her abusive ex partner - Julie's 4-year battle to get her local Community Safety Partnership to agree to do a Domestic Homicide Review inspired this crowdfunder.
Coming back on this morning because I’m still feeling raging, upset and shaky about something that happened to me yesterday when I went on a run.
15 or so minutes into the run, so just about past the pain barrier and when it’s starting to feel tolerable, a guy I later see is wearing a yellow dayglo jacket cycles up behind me. “Coming through” he calls. I move to the left.
As he cycles past he makes what to him I imagine sounds like a complimentary comment on my “figure”.
I am pretty fed up to have been told today that the Transparency Review oral evidence is going to be heard behind closed doors.
This is the Review instigated by the President of the family division of the high court examining whether the family justice system should be more transparent in its workings - workings that have come in for sustained criticism for years. Workings that go on behind closed doors.
I discovered, completely by chance, at the end of last week, that the panel the President had convened would be taking oral evidence on the issues that arise when an arm of the stage takes draconian decisions in secret which change people's lives forever.
Finally got myself a minute to put up the judgment on the rehearing of the notorious Tolson appeal case from I think Jan/Feb this year. It was heard by Mrs Justice Judd. I attended most of it - judgment here bit.ly/3fJZmmA
Recap on thread from earlier today: the two rape allegations that Tolson dismissed in such outrageous terms were found to have happened. All the mother's other domestic abuse allegations but one were also found as fact.
None of the father's allegations against her were found.