Childrens services, whats the law?

[pookielydia1]

Hi all,

I recently had a note put through my door on the 16th of January from my local council asking me to ring them on a number left and the note said,

I visited your home this afternoon to discuss with you information regarding your children (names of children given on the note) and it said I would be grateful if you would ring me to re-arrange a visit.

Anyway I have no idea what it's about and my partner and me have rang up at least 12 times on the 17th of January to which we were constantly told lie after lie, the woman who put the note through the door was apparently in a meeting all day (even though she left a voicemail message with my partner stating she was in court in the morning but would be available in the afternoon) and when we rang up to speak to the manager we were constantly told she wasn't available and that she wasn't in today.. We knew she was because someone earlier on in the day had said she was busy and if they could take a contact number they'd get her to ring back! She never did..

So the day the letter was put through the door (the 16th of January) my partner rang the council on the number left and was asked if there had been any domestic violence incidents recently, which there hasn't and they were told this and that we'd like to know why someone wants to visit the house, only to be told the information on their computer screen wasn't very clear so they didn't really know what it was about, so I said what information isn't very clear, they wouldn't tell me that..

What are our rights with regards to this? I mean we will gladly co-operate with the council etc but we had one incident a long time ago now where my partner had an argument with his mum in our house (she accused him of assault) and the police got involved and social services stuck there oar in and decided to take our 2 children at the time and put them with my partners mother!! This all then went to a child protection conference and they ruled that social services acted completely irresponsibly and unprofessional and it all went in our favour, I also was taken to court by my own mother! And was acquitted of what she accused me of.

Lastly they keep asking when myself or my partner rings up if we are ALL in, what rights do we have with regards to this as I'm reliably informed they can't speak to our children if we don't agree.

Advice please.

Thank you.

[prh47bridge]

I wouldn't start by accusing them of lying and going on about your rights.

The alleged "lies" you describe may have innocent explanations. It may be, for example, that the woman who put the note through your door made a mistake when she left her voicemail. Equally it may be the information was correct at the time she left the voicemail but she subsequently had to change her plans for yesterday. Similarly the person who said the manager was busy may simply not have known that the manager wasn't in that day.

I don't know who has "reliably informed" you that children's services can't talk to your children unless you agree. Of course they can. Indeed, they can speak to your children without your knowledge in some circumstances. If they could not it would make it very difficult for them to investigate alleged abuse by parents. Having said that, you would usually be allowed to attend when your child was questioned. If they need to talk to your child alone they should ask for your permission but they do not have to if they think it would put your child at greater risk.

You don't have to answer their questions but if you refuse to co-operate it is likely to raise suspicions.

Your rights under the Data Protection Act to see the information they hold on you are limited. They can withhold any information where, in their view, disclosure would prejudice law enforcement or be likely to cause serious harm to physical or mental health - yours or somoeone elses. If your partner are suspected of abuse you are unlikely to be given access to your child's records and some of the information they hold on you may also be withheld.