Herefordshire Council: Order to improve over child failings

Mr Justice Keehan said Herefordshire Council "utterly failed" three young people

A government improvement notice has been served on a council which "utterly failed" three fostered children.

A High Court judge found children's services in Herefordshire failed to include the young people's mother in their lives.

The Department for Education notice follows an "urgent and thorough" review of Herefordshire Council's children's social care services.

An improvement board is being set up and will run from June.

Herefordshire Council said "improvement adviser" Gladys Rhodes White would work with it for at least 12 months providing advice and chairing the improvement board.

But the authority warned that during its reviews it may find "further instances that do not meet the required standards".

The council held an extraordinary meeting following a damning ruling by Mr Justice Keehan who said the council did not have the children's "best interests" at the heart of its decisions.

The ruling, published online, said that over more than eight years, it failed to promote contact between the children and their mother, and to take any steps to preserve the connection to their family.

When a fourth child became ill with septicaemia at the age of 14, the ruling said, the authority "gave consent to medical procedures without any discussion with the mother or any application to the court for a best interest decision".

The child later died.

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The newly-appointed chief executive of the council, Paul Walker, said the authority had taken "full accountability" for the failings of children's services, and would be making "much-needed changes" to the council's culture and practices.

A review was under way to address any failings an deal with any serious concerns, he said.

A dedicated team, led by the interim director Cath Knowles, is working through these concerns, the authority added.