31 December - Cheers. Happy New Year, but not for everyone
I once described Bexley’s cabinet member for Children’s Services, Philip Read
in very derogatory terms. I regretted it afterwards but I had seen him in action too many times and was tipped over the edge.
It was nothing to do with him making up the story that
put blogger John Kerlen
behind bars for 24 hours before a judge came to his rescue or the fact that he
repeatedly ridiculed his Labour shadow, councillor Mabel Ogundayo, for being
young and female. (I was always waiting for him to add “black” but he never quite went that far.)
The last straw was the correspondence and ultimately arranged meeting with a group of
parents who had lost children to Philip Read’s department and I heard their stories at first
hand. The constant theme was that Bexley’s social services were spiteful liars. I saw some of
the evidence. Good mothers who separated from abusive partners did not have
their children returned - and they still haven’t. Other parents, forewarned, were planning
to move out of the borough - and subsequently did.
At the other extreme, at least two Bexley children have died because Social
Workers ignored reports from teachers and heath professionals. (†) When OFSTED rated
Bexley’s Children’s Services as Inadequate, no one at the top level lost their
job and there have been persistent rumours to the effect that the Deputy
Director is protected by being best mates with Teresa O’Neill. Her former boss was given the job of
writing the Serious Case Review. They certainly know how to demonstrate that
things are open and above board in Bexley. Keeping it in the family only applies to cover ups.
Nothing is open and above board in Bexley.
About three months ago a reader sent me an FOI response to a question on
Bexley’s Social Services. The figures didn’t seem to add up unless Social
Workers are being paid at Director level. I sent it to Mabel Ogundayo to see if
she could explain it to me. She couldn’t but offered to find the answer. Since
then she has only been able to apologise for the continuing ‘no answer’. It is not
only residents who are given the runaround by Bexley’s Children’s Services.
Under cabinet member Philip Read changes have been made within the department. As you may
imagine it’s not easy to attract staff to a borough with a reputation that has fallen through the
floor. The vacancy levels in Social Services have exceeded 50%. In some ways
it sounds a good idea to start to train your own staff to fill the gaps but on
the other hand there will be no experience. Given Bexley’s history maybe that is
no bad thing but one still doesn’t hear anything good about Social Workers. The
following is typical of messages I occasionally receive…
I can tell you from personal experience, hand on heart, that in the community
of people who have had experience of social workers - myself included - it is a
frighteningly common experience to find social workers lying outright without
shame. And on two separate occasions I have been surprised to see that judges
turn a blind eye if they are presented with such evidence! I’m sure they scratch each other’s backs.
I made my own complaint about a Social Worker
last August. It followed some complete nonsense meted out to my elderly aunt in
Newham. I have had no formal response but Newham council has phoned a couple of
times to apologise for the lack of progress. When the Social Worker was
confronted by my complaint she fled the room and has not been seen since.
Maybe they are all as bad as each other. The following case posted to YouTube
on Christmas Day would suggest that Bexley council has learned nothing since the
bad old days of former councillor Katie Perrior under whose guidance Children’s
Services all went badly wrong.
You really should spend 14 minutes with this video. Further evidence that Bexley council wrecks
people’s lives and is happy to do so.
Maybe the Social Workers are inexperienced or incompetent but the end result is the same as if
misery for all was Philip Read’s hobby.
After co-opting the police this Bexley couple were arrested on allegations that
proved to be false. It was recommended that if they were to stand any chance of
getting their children back they should plead guilty to criminal charges, but
the parents refused to do so.
They were tried and acquitted in the Crown Court, the evidence was clearly false, but
still they cannot get their children back. Bexley council doesn’t care. They even contacted
the wife’s employer in an effort to get her out of a job.
The children keep running home to their parents which gets the parents into
trouble, the Social Worker threatens them with jail, but Bexley council is
incapable of anything but injustice. When pressed for a defence the parents are
told that the fact they are devout Christians goes against them. “Christianity is all fake”
according to Bexley’s Social Services.
Obviously stooping to Philip Read's level of nastiness was wrong, but too many Social Workers appear to be
cast in the same mould. BiB’s headline of Dishonest, Vindictive, Criminal would appear to be as true of
Bexley council today as it was in 2009 when it was first adopted.
† Rhys Lawrie died from 39 injuries
in 2011 and
Ndingeko Kunene suffered another “preventable death” last year.