28 June (Part 1) - Bexley’s Children’s Services. Still generating discontent
Highlighting anything to do with
Bexley council’s children’s
services is a guaranteed way of provoking a response from readers. There is a
lot of discontent about.
Three months ago I hired a room so that several aggrieved parents could meet and
share information, identify the biggest liars among Bexley council’s social
workers etc. I hoped that the parents might learn something from each other to
help combat
the dishonesty among Bexley council’s staff which they were all so concerned about.
I have heard of some parents making a little progress since then but it is
obviously a subject which cannot be reported without prejudicing the outcomes
and anonymity must be a priority. Social workers must not know which of them
might eventually get a mention in these pages.
However publishing this email from within Bexley council cannot do any harm.
They stopped overtly sacking people and changed to just moving them out but if you compare
2012’s organisational structure to a later one you can see how many heads rolled.
Three heads of service - Ruth Murdoch; Mel Newell and Brendan Ring and several
senior managers - too many for this to be coincidental.
The extent to which Sheila Murphy will go to sanitise findings is shown by her
appointment of Rory Patterson as Independent Chair of
the Serious Case Review (PDF) published in 2013.
He was her former line manager who remains a personal friend with whom she regularly has dinner.
Far from independent and a disgusting choice in respect of a review that should
focus on the well being of a child, the performance of social care and lessons
learned - and not back-covering. There was a report
some years ago - the Betts report - which identified significant areas of
improvement within Bexley Children's Services. - it was commissioned by the
council but buried by Murphy who continues to refute any criticism about the way
in which her service is operating.
Nick Johnson would never have allowed this to happen on his watch.
Nick Johnson was the previous Chief Executive. I can only assume that Betts is councillor Nigel Betts.
Sheila Murphy is the current Director for Children’s Services who has been
widely reported to be a close confidante of council leader Teresa O’Neill.
There is more that could be published about the department that councillor
Philip Read is so keen to demonstrate is transformed. Maybe it is but its past
is shameful and that past lingers on to the detriment of many families.