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.