Council apologises over 'failure to comply with adoption regulations'
A council leader has apologised after a High Court judge was told of a "long-standing failure" to comply with adoption regulations.
Last updated 25th Nov 2021
Mrs Justice Roberts said on Wednesday that Somerset County Council's "failings" could have implications for as many as 300 children.
The judge, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court, said "nothing of this sort" could be allowed to happen again.
Mrs Justice Roberts had outlined detail in an initial ruling on the case.
She said council bosses had asked her to consider the lawfulness of adoption placement orders.
The judge heard that "procedural irregularities" had been identified in the process by which health information had been provided to the council's "adoption agency decision maker".
A senior Somerset councillor on Thursday issued an apology to "children, families and anyone directly affected".
"The court accepted that we acted at all times in the best interests of the children, with the right decisions made at the right time, with the right information, by the right professional," said Frances Nicholson, the council's lead member for children's services."
"But there were failings in our formal administration of this part of the adoption process - the children's health information.
"We acted quickly to put this right and are conducting a complete and comprehensive overview of our procedures.
She added: "This may seem like a minor bureaucratic issue, but we know that ensuring that all processes are followed to the letter is important for a child's future.
"I'd like to apologise to the children, families and anyone directly affected in this case."
Mrs Justice Roberts said she was initially asked to consider the lawfulness of placement orders made between 2017 and 2021 in relation to a group of 10 children.
The judge said she had concluded that "procedural irregularities" had not made any of the 10 children's placement orders unlawful.
But she said it was "important to state" that the implications of the council's failings went "far beyond" that "primary cohort" of children.
The judge said the issue in relation to the lawfulness of placement orders stemmed from the discovery, in April, that the council had failed to comply with aspects of its statutory duties under the 2005 Adoption Agency Regulations.
Mrs Justice Roberts began considering evidence earlier this year, at private hearings.
The judge ruled then that the council could not be named in media reports of the case.
She revealed the name in her written initial ruling, which was published late on Wednesday.
"... it is important to state at the outset that the implications of Somerset County Council's failings in this case go far beyond this primary cohort of children," she said in the ruling.
"The court has been made aware that its long-standing failure over a considerable period to comply with specific aspects of the statutory framework laid down by the Adoption Agency Regulations, which underpin its primary obligations under the Adoption and Children Act 2002, has raised issues in relation to a significant number of other placement and adoption orders."
The judge added: "I have been told that the wider cohort of children could number as many as 300."
She went on: "Nothing of this sort can be allowed to happen again. Somerset County Council must conduct a complete and comprehensive overview of its compliance procedures. If this exercise requires the allocation of financial and other resources, then so be it."