This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Action pledged on Borders Reports
06/05/2004
Immediate and wide-ranging action was
promised by Ministers today following a damning indictment
of social work and health services in the Borders.
Two separate reports by the Social
Work Services Inspectorate (SWSI) and the Mental Welfare
Commission (MWC) conclude that failures at every level
allowed four people with learning disabilities to be
seriously abused and neglected over a period of 30
years.
Ministers have already received
personal assurances from Scottish Borders Council, NHS
Borders and Lothian and Borders Police that far-reaching
improvements will be put in place.
In addition, Ministers have:
asked the Scottish Social
Services Council to decide whether, in light of the
SWSI report, any members of staff are unfit to be
registered as social workers
announced new inspection
arrangements and a joint inspection regime for
learning disability services
pledged to take a
fundamental look at social work across Scotland to
ensure it meets the country's needs in the 21
st century
Minister for Education and Young
People Peter Peacock, who also has ministerial
responsibility for social work, said:
"In all my time in public life I have
never come across a more harrowing and appalling case than
this.
Over 30 years, a catalogue of failures
within social work and health services in the Borders
allowed three people to be seriously sexually abused and
another to be seriously physically neglected.
"Much of the abuse, neglect and
exploitation could have been avoided if it had not been for
these failures.
Time and again, concerns were raised with
those who should have been protecting them.
Each one should have triggered decisive
action but none did.
"The reports published today recommend
immediate action by the local council, health board and
police force.
These recommendations have been accepted in
full and Ministers will expect regular updates on progress.
"I am also ensuring that every
council, health board, and police force reads the report
carefully and asks 'could this happen in our area?'.
Where gaps are identified I expect action
and a new joint inspection regime for learning disability
services will ensure this happens.
"Those recommendations aimed at the
Executive are also being accepted in full.
In addition, we are asking the Scottish
Social Services Council to decide if any members of staff
involved in the case are unfit to be registered as social
workers.
"However, we also need to also look
beyond this particular case and take a more fundamental
look at social work.
The reports tell a depressingly familiar
tale which resonates with the findings of all too many
inquiries down the years into child abuse cases.
"There are social workers all across
Scotland doing excellent work in very challenging
circumstances and we are investing heavily in the
profession.
But it is clear we must go beyond what we
are already doing - social work legislation dates back to
the sixties and expectations are very different in the 21
st century.
We need to be clear with the profession what
we expect of them and allow them to strengthen their
contribution in the modern era.
"Today marks a watershed in the way we
need to think about social work. We will take whatever
actions are necessary to ensure, as far as is humanly
possible, that Scotland's vulnerable citizens are not let
down in this way again."
Background to reports
In March 2002, a woman with learning
disabilities was admitted to Borders General Hospital
having suffered extreme levels of physical and sexual abuse
within her household over an extended period.
In September 2002, three men were imprisoned
for this abuse.
This woman had been in receipt of
social work services from the local council and health
board since her early childhood.
The abuse she suffered had occurred
throughout the period of the agencies' involvement,
escalating to extreme levels during the four month period
leading up to her hospitalisation.
Although only one individual has been
at the centre of the media attention surrounding this case,
other individuals within the same social network, receiving
similar services from the council and health board, also
suffered severe forms of neglect and abuse over a period of
three decades.
Scottish Borders Council commissioned
three separate reports into the case.
These were largely concerned with the four
month period leading up to the individual's
hospitalisation.
In June 2003, Minister for Education and
Young People Peter Peacock asked the Social Work Services
Inspectorate (SWSI) to carry out an inspection of the
social work services provided to people with learning
disabilities by Scottish Borders Council.
This inspection looked back to the
individuals' earliest contact with social work services and
therefore stretched back to the 1970s.
Within a similar timescale to the SWSI
inspection, the Mental Welfare Commission (MWC) carried out
an investigation into the involvement of health
services.
The reports have been sent to the
Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), which sets out
standards of conduct for social workers and which registers
individuals.
They will be expected to take account of the
findings to decide if any individual is failing to meet the
required standards and is therefore not fit to be
registered.