This article by Lucy Corin appears on the Halsebury Law Exchange website here Imagine you are a middle-aged man with a young family looking to change career to work as a primary school teacher. When you were 12 you took a chocolate bar from a shop. You learnt a salutary lesson and never repeated this [...]
Proposed reforms to Rehabilitation of Offenders Act criticised – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Couple falsely accused of child abuse win damages from Haringey council
March 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This item appeared on the Guardian website on the 14th March 2012. Couple falsely accused of child abuse win damages from Haringey council Pair plunged into ‘nightmare’ after anonymous tipoff about treatment of daughter are awarded £2,000 damages in high court Haringey civic centre in Wood Green, north London. The council mishandled its investigation, giving [...]
Press release: Assembly Members in Wales to receive an early Christmas Present – The Truth About Bryn Estyn.
December 3, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Balance, Fairness and the Burden of Proof: A Christmas Gift Worth Treasuring South Wales Against Wrongful Conviction (SWAWC), Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers (FACT), False Accusation Support Organisation (FASO) jointly call upon Welsh Assembly Members and relevant authorities to make themselves fully aware of the dangers which can attach to accusations of sexual abuse and the corresponding [...]
An employer cannot rely “blindly” on its medical advisers when deciding if an employee is eligible for an ill-health early retirement pension,
October 18, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This article appeared on the OUT-Law website on the October (here) Employer must not rely blindly on medical advisers when deciding if an employee is eligible for ill-health benefits, ombudsman says An employer cannot rely “blindly” on its medical advisers when deciding if an employee is eligible for an ill-health early retirement pension, the pensions [...]
Court of Appeal decision in Bursar case
September 19, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The Court of Appeal have passed down an interesting but complex judgement relating to employment issues in Fuller v London Borough of Brent [2011] EWCA Civ 267 (15 March 2011) concerning the test of reasonableness in decisions relating to disciplinary proceedings. The judgement is particularly relevant because it relates to a school bursar formerly employed [...]
Teacher and his wife were suspended for three years before being sacked from the same school
July 27, 2011 from Leave a Comment
A teacher and his wife were suspended for three years before being sacked from the same school. Garry Marsh was suspended from his job at Coppice Special School, in Newcastle, on April 18, 2008. The suspension related to an allegation, which Mr Marsh denies, that he arranged a date for a family member with a [...]
How to conduct an investigation
December 20, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to report produced earlier this year on “How to Conduct An Investigation” published by The Standards Board for England. Although the guide has been written for monitoring officers carrying out investigations and other action relating to allegations referred to them by standards committees or ethical standards officers the principles apply [...]
Coventry City Council has been forced to pay £100,000 in court costs
October 1, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Coventry City Council has been forced to pay £100,000 in court costs after the local authority withdrew their application to remove three children from their parents. Judge Clifford Bellamy ruled that Coventry City Council had “fallen below accepted standards” in mounting a failed legal case that the children were being mistreated by their parents. The [...]
Number of complaints against Norfolk and Suffolk school staff revealed
August 26, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Parents in Norfolk and Suffolk were last night reassured that incidents remain “extremely rare” after new figures showed more than 250 complaints were made against school staff in the two counties during the last year. The alleged incidents – 139 in Norfolk and 109 in Suffolk – are among more than 1,700 across England unearthed [...]
More compensation in Manchester child abuse case
June 10, 2010 from Leave a Comment
Victims of child abuse at three children’s homes in Manchester will receive compensation from the city council, it has confirmed. Manchester City Council is to settle the claims of 163 people who were sexually and physically abused at three homes from the 1950s to the 1990s. It comes after 168 other victims were awarded a [...]
Headmistress wrongly accused of racism by Muslim governors wins £400,000 payout
March 20, 2010 from Leave a Comment
In a much publicised case a Surrey headteacher who was wrongly accused of racism by Muslim govenors wins £400,000 payout. This is how the Daily Mail carried the story. A headmistress hounded out of her job after being falsely accused of racism by two Muslim governors is entitled to £400,000 damages, the Court of Appeal [...]
UK Local Authorities admit that 15% of allegations made against teachers are unfounded
January 8, 2010 from 1 Comment
The question of false allegations was again raised in Parliament this time by Lord Hylton Teachers: Offences Question Asked by Lord Hylton To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many teachers have been falsely accused of offences in the most recent years for which figures are available. [HL651] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, [...]
The Local Government Association criticise Ofsted for feeding peole’s fears about child protection
November 25, 2009 from Leave a Comment
The Local Government Association have issued a press release criticising Ofsted for feeding peole’s fears about child protection Ofsted should be the calm, measured voice that helps to make child protection services work better rather than feeding people’s fears, council leaders said today. The Local Government Association warns that the inspectorate needs to stop working [...]
Former Director of Social Services accused of abuse said to happened over 40 years ago
September 29, 2009 from Leave a Comment
A former Calderdale social services chief has been arrested by detectives investigating alleged sex offences at a children’s home in the 1960s. Dr Rod Ryall, who spent 14 years with Calderdale from 1974 to 1988, has been questioned about his time as a housemaster at the secure Aycliffe Approved School at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. These [...]
Council officer wins damages over rape accusations
September 25, 2009 from Leave a Comment
A senior council officer sacked after a colleague accused him of violently raping her has won £25,000 compensation, it was disclosed. The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was dismissed even though the woman refused to give evidence against him to the police or tribunal. The woman, a director of a council department, [...]
Headmistress awarded £400,000 damages after being falsely accused
March 20, 2009 from Leave a Comment
Headmistress wins damages for having been called racist and Islamophobe A former headmistress of a primary school has been awarded 400,000 pounds in compensatory damages after she was falsely accused of racism and hounded out of her job. A judge at the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday ordered Surrey County Council to pay [...]
Laming Inquiry critical of child protection practice
March 13, 2009 from Leave a Comment
Some what predictably the Laming report into child protection services which was established following the tragic death of baby P in Harrigey called for a step change in leadership and practice to protect children. The far-reaching report, The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report, was commissioned by the Children’s Secretary Ed Balls [...]
Local Government Association launch programme to recruit more social workers for children’s services.
March 5, 2009 from Leave a Comment
The Local Government Association has launched a recruitment drive launched to tighten child protection safety net. In a hard hitting report report Respect and Protect they state that 1 in 10 social work posts are vacant at any one time, and that many Councils are having difficulties retaining experienced staff. The LGA have launched their [...]
Cardiff Council call for inquiry into miscarriages of justice
December 22, 2008 from Leave a Comment
The BBC have reported that Cardiff Council have called for public inquiry into miscarriages of justice after three people were jailed for lying in a murder trial. Mark Grommek, Leanne Vilday and Angela Psaila were each sentenced to 18 months for committing perjury at the Lynette White murder trial almost 20 years ago. They were [...]
A Welsh Social Services Department calls for Government support
February 11, 2004 from Leave a Comment
In the first move of its kind in Wales, Blaenau Gwent Council has requested help from an improvement board to help ‘stabilise and re-direct’ social services, writes Alex Dobson. The decision was taken following a ‘whole authority assessment’ last year, and in the wake of a damming joint review that revealed vulnerable children were being [...]
Give us our cash back!
December 15, 2002 from Leave a Comment
The people’s verdict has been given . . . and the vast majority of you believe we are right to demand taxpayers’ money back from the team responsible for a discredited report. The four authors of Abuse in the Early Years were paid more than £360,000 for the report even though it contained “fundamental claims [...]
Cleared teacher still suspended
December 14, 2002 from Leave a Comment
A social worker cleared of having sex with two 15-year-olds remained suspended from work today.Lisa Smith, 26, was found not guilty of 18 charges after a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court. But Lancashire County Council said its internal investigation would go on. County Hall said Ms Smith was still suspended from her post as [...]
Council admits catalogue of mistakes in abuse inquiry
November 28, 2002 from Leave a Comment
A North-East council has admitted to a catalogue of mistakes over the way a review team was set up to investigate allegations of abuse at a nursery. Former nursery workers Dawn Reed, 31, and Christopher Lillie, 37, won their libel battle in July against false accusations that they had abused children in their care. Newcastle [...]