Dorset council shared woman's secrets to abusive husband

The woman said Dorset Council had "failed to properly acknowledge" its error, the LGO said

A council has apologised to a woman after it revealed confidential details she gave to a social worker to her abusive ex-husband.

Dorset Council admitted its fault but the woman complained the error had caused her flashbacks, panic attacks and targeted abuse from the man.

It said it was "very sorry for the avoidable distress caused".

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) told it to formally apologise and pay her £1,750.

The information was included in a social worker's report that was completed in 2018.

The social worker hand delivered a completed assessment to the home the woman shared with her then partner, despite her asking specifically that the authority did not disclose the information to him.

The family had "periodic involvement" with children's services and police involvement because of violence in the household and alcohol abuse over several years, the LGO said.

'Unhappy and unacceptable'

The woman said the man's reaction to him reading the report led to "verbal and emotional abuse and this heightened her existing fear of him".

While Dorset Council was not the authority directly responsible for the error, because it did not exist at the time, it took responsibility for it after its predecessors were abolished.

The woman complained in 2019, received an apology from council officers, and had a further meeting with them in early 2020, where they apologised again.

But an attempt to secure compensation took longer, with the council agreeing after the LGO investigation.

It offered the woman £1,000 to "recognise the severity of the avoidable distress caused", which the LGO accepted.

Another £500 will be paid to "recognise the risk of harm" and £250 to recognise its poor handling of the complaint.

Dorset Council said the error was a "very unhappy and unacceptable" one.

"The council accepts that there was fault in disclosing the information described and that this caused the complainant distress and potential risk and has made a written apology and financial acknowledgement of the impact caused at the level recommended by the LGO," a spokesperson said.