Social worker on driving ban struck off over car allowance

A social worker who claimed a car allowance from her employer while disqualified from driving has been struck off by the General Social Care Council.

Patricia Kakeeto was convicted on 20 September 2007 at Barking Magistrates Court of failing to provide a specimen for breath analysis and failing to stop at the scene of an accident earlier that year.

She was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge, disqualified from driving for a year and fined £250.

But Kakeeto did not inform her employer, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, or the GSCC of the convictions, the regulator’s conduct committee heard.

She continued to work in the council’s vulnerable adults and drugs team for two years before the offences came to light through a Criminal Records Bureau check in December 2009.

Tower Hamlets subsequently launched an investigation and discovered Kakeeto had claimed an essential car user’s allowance while banned from driving.

Kakeeto admitted dishonestly claiming the allowance and failing to declare the convictions on an application to renew her registration with the GSCC in December 2007 and on a CRB disclosure form in September 2009.

The conduct committee took her admissions into account, as well as the fact she had shown remorse and had no previous disciplinary record with the GSCC.

But it concluded: “Dishonesty of this seriousness is so damaging to a registrant’s suitability and to public confidence in social care services that it necessitates a removal order.”

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said Kakeeto was suspended for gross misconduct in December 2009 for failing to inform the council of a criminal conviction. 

He added: “The General Social Care Council was informed of the suspension and an internal investigation was started in line with the council’s disciplinary procedures and GSCC code of conduct.

“The allegations were substantiated following an investigation, but by this point Ms Kakeeto had resigned.”

Read the full notice of decision

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