Scottish Parliament petition over alleged mishandling of child safeguarding cases needs more signatures – John McLellan

After the revelation that a senior Edinburgh council officer altered recommendations for managing concerns raised by whistle-blowers comes a new allegation of malpractice.

Local authorities like Edinburgh Council cannot be trusted to police themselves (Picture: Neil Hanna)

A mother involved in a case of mishandling child safeguarding allegations has been in touch with campaigners calling for a public inquiry, and her claims mirror what was uncovered by chance in a random sample by the council’s internal auditors.

“I have personal experience of a senior council officer falsifying a document as part of the complaints process,” said the mum, who not surprisingly wishes to remain anonymous. “There is documented evidence of council staff withholding key information from other agencies, with life-changing consequences for a vulnerable child.”

Further, she claims Edinburgh Council was dismissive of concerns. “When challenged, the council's response was ‘there's nothing to see here’ rather than ‘something has gone wrong, how can we avoid making the same mistake again?’” she added. “The council has a duty of care, but instead of learning from their mistakes they bury the evidence and carry on as usual. As a member of the public, there are no mechanisms for me to pursue these matters other than through legal action.”

Such a mechanism could be the Scottish national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services that a new campaign is seeking, and if the sordid Edinburgh cases prove anything it’s that local authorities cannot be trusted to police themselves. Edinburgh is not alone, and the petition calling for a national independent inquiry now has over 600 signatures. It needs more.