Osbornes Law case news: Naming Local Authorities – should this happen when serious failings occur in social work practice?

A recent article written by the Transparency Project http://www.transparencyproject.org.uk/to-name-or-not-to-name-that-is-the-question/ discusses the question of whether Local Authorities should be named. Two recent judgments have dealt with this question in relation to care proceedings.

Simone McGrath, consultant solicitor, at Osbornes Law acted for the father for one of the cases where the local authority was named. The case involved the removal of a child by the state. Commenting on the outcome, Simone said:

“Although there were strong public interest arguments for the naming of the local authority that had started care proceedings in respect of my client’s sons; The local authority’s  failures in respect of its social work practices with this family were found to be serious and wide ranging over a lengthy period of time and as such  there were strong public interest arguments in favour of naming the local authority and the social workers involved.  However, the high risk of jigsaw identification of the children and parties in this case were such that the privacy arguments in favour of anonymisation won the day”.

Read full judgment here https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2020/1162.html

Simone McGrath specialises in private and public law children work, with particular experience in domestic and international Child Abduction. Simone is on the Law Society’s Children Panel.  She is a member of the Official Solicitor’s Child Abduction Panel of Accredited Solicitors. Her work involves representing both children, parents and other family members  in care proceedings. She is recognised as a leader in her field.

The Transparency Project is a registered charity. A source for explanations and discussions regarding family law and family courts in England and Wales