The High Court has approved a number of Interim Suspension Orders on application by Social Work England.
In this case, Fordham J said:
“the allegations which constitute the underlying concerns in this case have rightly been characterised (by the Review Panel on 9 June 2023) as serious, supported by cogent evidence from reliable sources, and relevant to the role of a social worker where safeguarding vulnerable people is a fundamental tenet. I am not making findings of fact, but rather assessing risk. It is sufficient to say that the factual context in this case includes the position of an individual who was a 12 year old child, in respect of whom the police and a local authority’s social services were investigating concerns, and where it is said that the Defendant failed to engage, respond and cooperate appropriately.”
The matters with which SWE is concerned in this case include alleged domestic violence by the Defendant against his estranged wife – described in the papers as his ex-wife – and the potential for emotional abuse of their child, leading to a series of interventions by police, social services and the courts; together with alleged concealment of events from an employer, in obtaining employment and during employment, and from SWE itself; together with further concerns as to the Defendant’s ability to recognise the impact of his actions.
Fordham J commented saying:
“the concerns touch on fitness to practise and public protection, in a setting requiring protection of service users, as well as probity and public confidence in the profession. My function today is to consider risk, not to decide questions of fact or substantive questions for adjudicative appraisal. As the Review Panel has also cogently explained (14 April 2022), alongside the nature of regulatory concerns there have been and are concerns as to the nature of insight, and concerns about an incident in February 2022 involving the Defendant’s attendance at the ex-wife’s residence, and his position as to whether that incident needed to be declared. There are in this case behavioural and attitudinal concerns.”
The allegations against the Defendant include wide ranging practice based failings including a failure to complete assessments and care plans in a timely manner, a failure to safeguard the public by not completing necessary visits, a failure to maintain accurate case records and a failure to provide the courts with relevant information in a timely manner.
Fordham J commented in his judgement saying:
“These allegations would involve fundamental aspects of social work practice, and the alleged concerns gives rise to a risk from which the public requires protection. There are other matters including whether fitness to practise is impaired on health grounds. These are all allegations only. This is not the stage, nor the forum, to be making findings of fact. What is needed instead is to consider the questions of risk, public protection and proportionality.”
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