Birmingham blamed in ‘disturbing’ case

A man who complained that Birmingham Council
failed to safeguard his three children while they were being looked
after by his former partner has had his complaint upheld by the
local government ombudsman.

In
what she describes as a “profoundly disturbing case”, Patricia
Thomas found that the social services duty team persistently failed
to investigate numerous allegations.

The
ombudsman found that all three children experienced significant
neglect and some of the ill-treatment could have been avoided if
the children were removed sooner.

The
concerns expressed by the man and his children’s school were
“largely ignored”, no proper investigation was carried out and no
social worker was assigned to the family, the ombudsman
concluded.

The
attitude of staff towards the man was “inexcusable”. Thomas found
that the council’s failure was one of maladministration.

The
council has agreed to pay the complainant £2,000 as well as
payments to the children, which will be held in trust until they
are 18.