Gloucestershire county council has apologised after it unlawfully removed a young child from its mother and placed it in foster care without giving the mother or father any notice of its intention to do so. It took six weeks for the mother to get the child, who was breastfeeding when removed, restored to her care. No legal advice had been taken by social workers as to the legality of the summary removal. It was plain, he said, that the local authority itself had significant doubts about the legality of removal “but no legal advice was sought at the time”. “We also apologise to the child and the parents for our actions in this case and for any distress caused.

Source: The Guardian July 28, 2017 13:49 UTC