Hi, everyone.

Case dismissed!

Good news at last! The police rang me on Friday to tell me that the CPS have discharged the case against me and said they are not pressing charges. The relief I felt was amazing and the investigating officer even sounded pleased that I was finally free of the stress the whole case had caused me.

Names, places and facts wrong

Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) social services visited Friday also. They came to show us the report they are submitting to Monday’s child protection conference. As a family we had all received letters inviting us to the conference. Bizarrely,  however, they got names, places and facts wrong. Laura received a letter to say she was going into care but the conference was about her sister. I received a letter detailing the girls names incorrectly and inviting a GP, whose name is unknown to us, and who is certainly not at our practice, to attend the meeting. Andrew received a letter saying Jennifer was the child being investigated and not Laura, and Jennifer received a letter detailing the purpose of the conference on a leaflet titled “For parents”.

The wrong parents described in report!

The social worker presented me with the report she was submitting. As I cast my eyes over it I wasn’t phased by the errors jumping out at me straight away. Dates, times and names were wrong, as well as grammar. NCC had spoken to Jennifer’s school and managed to write a report about the wrong parents. Facts about all of us were incorrect and both social workers seemed embarrassed. They kept reminding us of the complaints procedure when I kept mentioning all the errors that were being made. I was furious and said, “NCC have a nerve to question our parenting abilities. They can’t even write a report correctly. How on earth are we expected to have faith in the system?”

I also queried a key element in the report, which was their supposed concern about my daughters’ emotional wellbeing. I raised the question, “If you are so concerned, where have you been for the past seven years, never mind the past six weeks for that matter?” I have been experiencing mental health problems for seven years. During this time we have pulled together as a family and helped look after each other. We have never been offered any help or support by social services, even in the past six weeks when they started all this trouble. Surely if they were so concerned they would have done something to help? Instead they waste time writing silly and incorrect letters and reports.

Again I was told to highlight my concerns with the chair of the conference on Monday and follow the complaints procedure. Surely the time that has been spent on our case, and dealing with any complaints we have, would be better spent on protecting children who are starved to death by their parents?!

One failing authority assigned to prop up another?

The shocking fact is that the social worker who has been assigned to our family is from Birmingham. She claims she has been asked to work for NCC as they are a failing organisation! Again, they don’t make any sense and, to be honest, the whole service has been a joke. Birmingham has been big in the news as a failing authority, so God help us if NCC have requested their social workers to come to our area.

Conference will be a shambles

Tomorrow at 14.00hrs the child protection conference is taking place. There have been fifteen people invited to discuss concerns about the girls and to decide if they are placed on the child protection register. All this sounds very formal and official! In reality, I imagine that the conference will be a shambles. I think we will be the only ones on the invitation list to turn up, and the conference will consist of us questioning the authorities’ abilities and them making themselves look foolish. Let’s wait and see?

Will keep you all posted.

Love and best wishes

Angela x

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