Report ref 08 016 986

Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS made this Freedom of Information request to Waltham Forest Borough Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS

6 November 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Report ref 08 016 986 of the Local Government Ombudsman recommends
to the LB Waltham Forest that:

"87. Whilst I welcome the Council’s acknowledgement that there were
some failings,
and its offer of compensation, these do not go far enough to
reflect the full extent
of what went wrong in this case. In order to remedy this, I
recommend that the
Council:
• apologise to Miss Smith; and
• pay her compensation of £7,000

88. The Council should also review the way it deals with
assessments of children in
need and the way it communicates it decisions and provides advice.
In particular,
current guidance states that councils should have a “culture of
listening to and
engaging in dialogue with children.” The Council should ensure that
this culture is
followed by all staff.

89. Finally, the Council should review its approach to dealing with
complaints under
the statutory procedure, ensure that these are given priority; that
stage 2 reports
contain sufficient analysis of the evidence obtained in the
investigation, and that
responses to stage 2 and stage 3 findings and recommendations are
clear and
consistent."

Please provide copies of all documents identifying how the LB
Waltham forest is meeting the LGO recommendations.

On 05 November it was reported in the Yelllow Advertiser that:

"A council spokesman said that no disciplinary action would be
taken against staff involved and stressed that the Ombudsman made
no recommendation that any such action should be taken. "

It is not the LGO's remit to advise the Council on what to do with
its staff.

Please additionally provide copies of all documents related to this
statement, and the decision of the Council that it supports its
staff to act in the way that they did towards Ms Smith.

Particularly as Councillor Liaquat Ali, (Lab, High Street) cabinet
member for children and young people’s services admitted the girl
did not receive the service she deserved.

Please finally provide copies of all documentation from Councillor
Liaquat Ali as the person responsible for the acts of the staff
that he supports their acts.. and the Council's service failure.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Hardwicke Carruthers

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Stuart Hardwicke CARRUTHERS left an annotation ( 6 November 2009)

Issues discussed here:

http://www.amv3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?...

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From: Shirley Orjih
Waltham Forest Borough Council

14 January 2010

Attachment img 1141218 0001.pdf
377K Download View as HTML

Attachment Info HC Children at the Heart of Assessments.pdf
206K Download View as HTML

Attachment Info HC Communicating with Children doc.pdf
1.1M Download View as HTML

Attachment Info HC Email from Press Office to the Guardian Newspaper.pdf
45K Download View as HTML

Attachment Info HC Report on an Investigation into complaint no 08016986.pdf
808K Download View as HTML

Attachment Info HC Waltham Forest Children Young People Services.pdf
54K Download View as HTML

Dear Mr Carruthers,

Please find attached the Council's response to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Yours Sincerely,

Shirley Orjih
Assistant Corporate Information Officer
Corporate Law Team
Corporate Services
London Borough of Waltham Forest

020 84964710

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