For many of us working in the family justice system, the presence of corruption does not shock or incite gasps of disbelief. For many of us, it is an everyday reality which we encounter with almost every case file and family unit.
So, it’s no surprise to us that an ex CQC inspector has been arrested over allegations of bribery: in short, she is suspected of pressurising care providers to pay for favourable inspection reports.
The implications of this, if found to be true, are enormous. It speaks firstly to the care received by children in these institutions, secondly to the culture inside the system for allowing this activity to take place for so long and thirdly the ingrained levels of corruption which have seeped into the system and have gone largely ignored until now, mostly due to the fact that the grand scale of incompetence is now costing the government money.
To that, all we have to say is “Duh”. Get it right the first time, provide dignified, loving, supportive services for children and the many errors which are taking place will not only be drastically reduced, but they will be forgiven by the public.
And, most importantly to our government, they will have to pay out less. And less. And less.
Let’s do this thing, already.
I speak for all care providers when I say “a little bit of bribery does you good” !
It is a well established custom to leave a generous “tip” to our friendly inspectors ,and it’s cheap at the price to guarantee a glowing report even when our standards are abysmally low ! We all have to make a living and we can do without interference from nosy busybodies !
Good morning FA, we can see you have changed tack. We’ll try not to be such busy bodies in future :@)
Apr 26th An open letter to all Members’ of Parliament!
By Daveyone
House of Commons London SW1A 0AA
Dear Member of Parliament;
Family Law is a reactionary farce; so said Sir Bob Geldof in 2004 and to date nothing has changed! In spite of the recent Norgrove review Family Justice and Child Welfare continues to be ignored as it is the cash cow for the legal professionals who claim to act ‘in the best interest of the children’ when in truth the only best interests they serve is their own bank accounts! Even your former colleague Ann Widdecombe denounced the author David Norgrove as a questionable parent if he was so quick to suggest father’s need not have regular contact with their children. It is a shame Norgrove did not undertake as a robust review as Leverson is currently on aspects of life that do not have such an impact.
Norgrove also failed to see the importance of Grandparents which is strange as we now lean that Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking to penalise councils who do not find homes for foster children when in fact too many children are forced into care when there is not always the need, and surely the role of Grandparents or other extended family could come to the fore when a family is in crisis and Mum and Dad have issues to sort out!
Last summer we had riots in London and other parts of the UK. I could be argued that the announcement a few weeks before by the Home Secretary Theresa May; that she was about to cut back the number of front line police officers to the Met had a bearing, but more likely it is the lack of moral guidance by an appropriate adult namely a father in the lives of many of our young. Dads are regularly criticised for being feckless or runaway but what option is left with a law that renders them little more then sperm donors and walking ATM machines?
Family Court Judges rely too heavily on spurious reports from the failing CAFCASS or Social Services who then does little more then rubber stamp this though into an unenforceable court order. The judge can then blame his scapegoats for any failure in this system and regularly will! The system as it exists today serves so called feckless fathers and money grabbing self-serving mothers whilst good parents both mothers and fathers are regularly being penalised and have to struggle to pick up the pieces after the fact!
I would rather see Family Court cases dealt with by ACAS then in secret courts, Jack Straw attempted to open these courts in 2008 but the judges said NO! What have they to hide when sensitive cases could be protect by using code such as Baby P, Child A or Family XYZ? Ken Clarke and Lord (Charlie) Falconer have done nothing to enhance or reform Family laws and other law makers such as Lord Justice Ward claim they are unable to act, so this is why I will be supporting the following March on 16th June 2012;
DO YOU CARE ENOUGH TO JOIN US?
YOUR CHILDREN NEED YOU: JOIN THE FATHER’S DAY MARCH Saturday 16th June, 11.00am – 3.00pm The Olympic Clock, Trafalgar Square, London. Featuring Gospel Choir, Laying of Children’s Shoes at the Olympic Clock and Barefoot March to Downing Street. Register today at office@fathers-4-justice.org
Yours sincerely
You can post your copy of (this adapted if you wish) to the address above or e-mail it c/o http://www.writetothem.com
0 Comments
I trust that the entire Houses of Parliament reads the above letter in full.
WAKE UP there really ARE grave injustices happening in the Social Service system.
WELL DONE davyone 1 and Natasha.
If you’d done your reseach it was a she and not a he who had pressurised. Nice to know men are stereotyped! Not….
I think you’ll find that’s a typo; thank you for drawing our attention to it. The article we link to clearly states it’s a woman and if you read the rest of our blog you will see that we question people of both genders, throughout. However, your initial reaction is surely the one that speaks volumes. I can only imagine you have had a terrible experience of your own.