DE-REGISTERED FOSTER CARER TO CHALLENGE KIRKLEES AFTER OVER PAYMENT
A Kirklees Foster Carer who has been de-registered after Kirklees overpaid her fostering Allowance is set to challenge the local authority by Judicial Review.

“At a time when the nation’s eyes are on the fate of MPs who have deliberately made false claims but who are keeping their jobs, this foster carer has been struck off because of an accounting mistake by Kirklees,” commented her Solicitor Nigel Priestley. “It looks as if there is one law for those with power and another for ordinary people who make mistakes.”

The Facts
1. The Foster Carer who cannot be named for legal reasons has been a local authority foster carer for Kirklees for the last 2 ½ years. Since becoming an approved foster carer for Kirklees had five placements including the current placement of 2 children. In addition she has undertaken respite care and emergency placements since becoming an approved foster carer in December 2007. Commenting she said, “There have been no problems as far as I am concerned with the care that I have provided to any of the children that I have fostered. Although some of the placements have been challenging I consider that I have worked well with the Social Workers, my link worker and the parents / relatives of the children in my care.”

2. She went on “One of my placements involved me caring for a particularly challenging child. Throughout the placement I took advice from Social Workers and formed a good relationship with them. When the placement came to an end the child’s social worker bought me a bottle of wine and some chocolates together with a thank you card in appreciation of how I had cared for the child in placement.”

3. Kirklees have now deregistered her as a foster carer. The reason behind this is due to overpayments in fostering allowances that she received from Kirklees. The period during which the overpayments have been made is April 2007 until September 2008. From April 2007 her wage slips were hit and miss. She then stopped receiving them altogether in September 2007. She then had two house moves, both of which were known to Kirklees.

4. She explained what happened next. “In March 2008 I telephoned the local authority payroll department to query why I was not receiving my wage slips. The gentleman on the phone told me that according to their records I had two children in placement. I told him this was incorrect and that I only had one child in placement. He also read out an incorrect address and I informed him of my correct address details. There was no mention during the course of this conversation regarding how much I was being paid. I had been under the impression that my link worker was responsible for notifying the other internal departments regarding children moving placement and change of address. I had no reason to suspect that the local authority held incorrect details as my link worker continued to visit me every 6 – 8 weeks at my new address. Even after the telephone call in March I did not receive a wage slip until September 2008.”

5. “In October 2008 I was contacted by my Link Worker and informed that there had been an internal audit and that it had come to light that I had been overpaid fostering allowances for the last 16 months.”

6. “The payments that I actually received were in respect of a child that had left the Care system in April 2007. My Link Worker was obviously fully aware that this child was no longer in placement and I expected information to be fed through to Kirklees Finance department. So far as I knew it wasn’t my job to tell them. The local authority alleges that I have been dishonest and have deliberately concealed this money. I absolutely refute this allegation. “I know that I am at fault in not checking my bank statements. But the system for payments is confusing. There was only ever a period of three or four weeks when I didn’t have any children in placement. I also mistakenly assumed that whilst I was on standby for emergency placements I was being paid. This I later learnt was not the case. The money in my bank account was forever changing – I was getting payments from the CSA into my bank account and my son’s wages were also going in. Added to this, I had not received wage slips from the local authority with a breakdown of the payments that were being made. “

7. Once I knew the seriousness of the position I took action. Since December 2008 I have been paying back the overpayment at a rate of £200 per month. This was before I was de-registered. Of course once I knew that Kirklees over paid me £12000, I knew I had to pay it back. I realise that this is a very large sum of money. But I did not make a deliberate false claim – I simply relied on both my Link Worker and Kirklees Finance Department to make sure that I got the right money. My mistake is that although I may be good with children – I’m no good with accounts”

8. Commenting on the case Nigel Priestley, Senior Partner at Ridley and Hall said “The irony of this case is that she has is continuing to care for children placed with her by Kirklees. Her ability to be an excellent foster carer has not been questioned. Last week she was de-registered because of the over payments. At no point have Kirklees accepted their part in this mess. This was never a case of a carer deliberately over-claiming. Kirklees negligently kept paying her. Her mistake was not to realise this and stop the payments. Last week Kirklees wanted to remove the children from her care. A Court has ordered that for the present time they should stay with her.”

9. “There is a shortage of 10000 foster carers in the UK. A recent House of Commons report said that there was a need for good quality carers. Local Authorities like Kirklees cannot afford to lose such a good carer – but neither can the children living in this area. The mistakes she accepts that she made could have been dealt with in a much better way so that Kirklees got their money back – and the children in this area got the benefit of an excellent carer.

10. We are seeking Counsel’s Advice on whether Kirklees have acted in an unfair and disproportionate manner. She has lost her livelihood at a stroke. It is a bitter pill when she sees the behaviour of MPs – and they continue to draw their salaries! There appears to be one law for them and another for ordinary folk. If we can Judicially Review Kirklees, we will.”
For more information contact Nigel Priestley on 01484 538421