It’s a fantastic victory that a disabled mum, Ms B, won against Ealing Council for not providing enough support for her to take care of her son. She took her case to the Local Government Ombudsman.
Under the Care Act 2014 section 12, Councils have a duty to assess the needs of the family, not just the disabled adult. And under outcomes (results), disabled mums are entitled to support for ‘caring responsibilities for a child’. But most often, disabled mums face being punished for child neglect instead. This happened to Ms B too.
She needed funding of her expenses to get her child to school, assistance and transport. The Council had not reassessed Ms B when her son started school, however they did have time to start child protection proceedings for neglect!
WinVisible took up these issues as part of the Support Not Separation coalition which has a self-help guide. And in 2021, we started our Disabled Mothers’ Rights Campaign.
Ealing Council was ordered to pay the mum £2,000 compensation as well as the bill of £12,000 to the childminder company which she had to incur, going into debt. And the Council had to confirm their commitment to supporting her in her caring responsibilities. Initially they had refused to pay compensation as they accused the mum of being uncooperative.
“The Ombudsman declined the mother’s complaint, who is a British citizen born outside the UK, that the council officers involved in her care assessment were racially biased.”
Read the Ombudsman’s report here.
Read Ealing Council’s report here.
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