This was the question asked by a family court experienced parent at the Family Procedure Rule Committee’s annual general meeting in November 2021.
The parent, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has shared the response she received from the committee with Researching Reform, and so we are adding it below.
Speaking to Researching Reform, the parent said:
“This is surely the highest level of the legal system at which to ask what mechanism holds social workers to account for the veracity of the evidence they give in family court. The response may show why social workers are able, should they desire to do so in order to win their cases, to lie freely in their evidence to family courts with complete impunity. All that prevents them from doing so is that they are trusted not to.”
“Even if the regulator takes dishonest reporting seriously, the complaint and investigation process takes years – it certainly cannot be done in time to stop a forced adoption. The courts themselves should care that they are not basing devastating decisions on falsehoods,” the parent added.
This was the parent’s question to the committee:
“At court I was informed by my own legal team that to question the evidence of the ‘trusted professional’ would ‘look very bad’ for me. Using Subject Access Request documents from the LA, which had never been made available to the court, I was later able to have my complaints regarding numerous serious falsehoods in social work evidence upheld. I therefore ask, does any mechanism exist for holding social workers to account for lack of veracity of their evidence in care proceedings?”
And this was the committee’s reply:
“There are a few mechanisms to hold social workers accountable for their professional conduct. The Department for Education has set clear standards to strengthen the social care system and improve social work practice and safeguarding across the country.
Qualified social workers must follow clear expectations set out by the Department for Education in the Post Qualifying Standards (PQS), which set out the knowledge and skills that practitioners working with children and families should have. These standards can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/knowledge-and-skills-statements-for-child-and-family-social-work
Social Work England, which is the regulatory body for social workers in England, have also set professional standards that determine the threshold necessary for safe and effective practice. More information about the standards can be viewed at: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/standards/professional-standards/
They set out what a social worker in England must know, understand and be able to do after completing their social work education or training.
If a member of the public has any concerns about a specific local authority and/or social work practice, they are encouraged to make a formal complaint to that local authority in the first instance. If they remain dissatisfied with the way their complaint has been handled the complaint could be directed to the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). More information on making a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman is available at www.lgo.org.uk or by calling the advice line on 0300 061 0614.
A concern can also be raised about a social worker by contacting Social Work England, however, they can only help if the complaint is about a social worker’s fitness to practise and the social worker is registered with them. Additional information on what is meant by ‘fitness to practise’ can be found here: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/standards/professional-standards/
Social Work England are required, as a regulator, to undertake investigations into individual social workers where they are made aware of concerns about a social worker’s conduct or competence. Social Work England can be contacted in several ways:
– By completing an online form: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/concerns/raise-a-concern/
– By email: enquiries@socialworkengland.org.uk or
– By writing to: Social Work England, 1 North Bank, Blonk Street, Sheffield, S3 8JY.”
As the parent explained, the issues with the current reporting process are that it cannot undo unjust decisions or legal breaches in a timely way, or ensure that children are not wrongly separated from their families. The loopholes surrounding the registration of social workers — which allows people to work in the sector without registering if they give themselves work titles which aren’t protected — are also dangerous and not fit for purpose.
Many thanks to this parent for sharing this information with us.
Researching Reform 
What about in Wales? This has been happening for years.
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Hi Clare, this from the Citizens Advice Bureau: If you live in Wales and you’re not sure about how to complain about a social services department, you can phone the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Complaints Advice Team for advice on 0300 790 0203.
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Clare I am sure its happening right across the United kingdom with the dumping ground being in Northern Ireland where children’s are trafficked too the amount of children already is staggering .Quite frankly its not surprising considering the huge quantity of family court sessions last year .
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Pingback: Can a social worker be held accountable if they produce dishonest reports in family court cases?
The obvious case is Suzi Smith, CAFCASS Team Leader who lied about a father after he complained about her.
In Bedford a SW told the Family Court the child was happy with the existing Court Order arrangments despite the child having just moved in with father full time due to mother’s abuse. Subsequent DP request for records of child’s W&F produced nothing. Even CAFCASS have a form for documenting the W&F but Children Services had nothing. The DJ simply accepted SW words even though ascertainable wishes contradicted her.
It’s FUBAR.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720414/Why-I-falsely-accused-father-abusing-daughter-Police-leant-stand-claim-social-worker-told-tribunal.html
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I could not believe this statement.
“The panel found she made the false allegation, but did not do so dishonestly. It will decide whether she is guilty of misconduct at a later hearing.”
Are these people for real !
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They should be SACKED immediately, and all pension rights forfeited.
What a horrible/evil/wicked thing to do when families are at the heart here.
This is lives, babies/childrens/parents, lives we are talking about.
TRUTH and JUSTICE, are the essence of life,
fundamental especially when family’s hit a life crisis, and social work are involved.
Their training should include psychological TRAUMA and how the mind reacts. Both of parents and child.
They are simply not trained to work with families in real crisis and trauma.
Forefront in all this, should be Family Preservation.
Family separation leads to a lifetime of Family devastation.
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SWs lie in their assessments all the time because they know they can get away with it. Council complaints depts are corrupt, the LGO are useless and drop 3 in 4 cases, the police turn a blind eye and protect bent SWs and SW England dont have the resources to do thorough investigations. thats why these vile employees of the SS love their jobs so much. and to think their wages are paid for by the taxpayer.
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The LGO don’t even investigate cases that have been to court so as long as local authorities go for care proceedings they are free from regulation.
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Be a little understanding !These social workers have scorecards to fill up showing how many adoptions they helped to achieve and more importantly how rapidly they got them processed !
Readers must understand that all the lies these lovely people tell in court are in the best interests of the children(and themselves)
The fostering and adoption charities declare revenues of millions of £s every year and every effort must be made to protect them.
Many of them ask for YOUR help on TV . jUST £2/ month will certanly be welcomed……………….
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Of course, best interests are everything. After all, social workers know as soon as they receive an anonymous phone call, and see a council flat, that the parents are no good. Henrietta and Crispin Large-Home-Garden-Aga-Rover-Gosh have a spare room and want a baby. They have been kept waiting for months which is really rather under par. Why should a little thing like truth stop them getting what they want.
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This was always such an obvious falsehood – those who abuse children do so in secret – not in front of a CAFCASS social worker. This woman made up a wholly false allegation aimed at destroying the life of the child whose ‘best interests’ she was supposed to represent. She lied “in a fit of pique after the single father criticised the way she was handling a custody battle.” This perfectly illustrates the enormous unchecked power of social workers and their willingness to wield it vindictively. Suzi Smith took no responsibility for the lie she created but blamed the police and the regulator thinks this is fine. Families are not safe from these people.
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Vic I think this silent abuse will one day come out for years the system has been fubar and my book will evidence that fact and all the people that cover up . This decision by Secretary of State Gillian Keegan MP entering Reform of Children’s Social Care
Volume 727: debated on Thursday 2 February 2023 was a bad one duplicitous supporting family life in one hand and in the other supporting “Kinsman” which is known to me have dumped a massive amount of children in Norther Ireland . I asked her
“You seem in my opinion to want to create a FURTHER further half a million children kidnapped from the United Kingdom in danger out on a limb so that there will be million children in Northern Ireland out on a limb in danger away from their families by your intention and actions by your bill placed before the houses of parliament YESTERDAY “Children’s Care Reform Statement.” There has been nothing but automatic reply.
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Legally, social workers should be removed from the register, but this does not happen! They lie, cheat, and make up falsehoods perjuring themselves in court with no reprimand, and the judge just states they made an error even when there is record in the social worker attendance statements. What the hell was Christine Stirling doing claiming she was working in the best interests of children when she made an error on the stand and couldn’t remember who she met or what she had written as submissions or in whose false name she had written statements to the court? Families are not safe from social workers or those who support the Kinsman scheme, which transports and traffics children from the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland in large numbers. Anyone who supports such a thing should hang their heads in shame!
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Reblogged this on elizapdushku's World.
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Why do we as a society accept this spit in the face, this middle finger up to us all.
This so called justice system that we are living under, has laws that are supposed to stop in their tracks, What I call (purjurists).
But no, the corrupt and criminal powers that be, have decided that;
(“It doesn’t matter old chap, old chum, old chucker, we’re going to do what the @@ck we like, regardless of what the law states”)
It’s an absolute disgrace, and we live in a democratic society, give me break!.
As Malcom X would say;
We’re are all being played, we’re being hood winked, we’re being had, we’re being bamboozled.
When it’s put out there that nobody is above the law, it’s a god dam lie!, social workers and other elites in above the law positions, are emphatically untouchable, (Facts!)
What are we going to do about it, just continue to;
Day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade.
Sit down and accept this before are eyes, the British justice system has become a cesspool of contamination, a laughing stock, in regards to we are being laughed at and severely, excessively abused at the same time.
When a nation becomes fully aware that it is being abused severely, and excessively and injustice becomes the norm.
It becomes the breeding ground for revolution and therefore regime change will take place by physical force.
At the hands of the people who have had enough!, It’s going to erupt, because when you keep pushing and pushing and pushing…
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Well, it all seems duplicitous to me that on the one hand, the Social Work England triage team can’t even locate the imperious social workers responsible for 500,000 children trafficked to Northern Ireland and their nefarious acts, which have landed my daughter in peril as part of Matthew Alexander’s “Thorpe’s Lost Children” ? In fact, the Secretary of State seems to welcome an alleged additional 500,000 children being trafficked. Social Work England is expecting me to believe their group has nothing to do with petitioning the government in regard to the Reform of Children’s Social Care, Volume 727, debated on Thursday, February 2nd, 2023, which is clearly duplicitous. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-02-02/debates/D8635E69-493B-40A9-957C-22A89E913EC5/ReformOfChildren%E2%80%99SSocialCare
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