Speak up and be damned?

Judy Weleminsky, a board member at the Children and Family Court
Advisory and Support Service, is facing the sack by the lord
chancellor Lord Falconer. Her “crime” is that she failed to “behave
in a corporate manner”. But when your organisation is damned in a
House of Commons select committee report, surely that suggests you
were right?

Of course, when Weleminsky submitted separate evidence to the
committee’s inquiry into Cafcass she wasn’t acting in a “corporate
manner”. And when she was quoted about the select committee report
in Community Care (news, page 8, 7 August), she did so
without seeking permission. But in both cases, she was trying to
set the record straight.

Her former chief executive Anthony Hewson, who presided over the
whole fiasco and who resigned last October, alleges in a dossier
that she breached Cafcass rules several times. He also cites her
“difficult” behaviour.

Meanwhile, Lord Falconer denies he wants to dismiss her for
speaking up before the select committee, but it is clear she stands
accused of being a bit of a maverick and raising tricky questions
about a failing organisation.

If only there were more like her. Far from sacking her why not keep
her on and use her expertise to help rebuild Cafcass’s shattered
reputation?

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