Sick foster child 'abandoned by the state'

Orkney Islands Council has been criticised for stopping payments to the foster parents of a seriously ill six-year-old boy. At the High Court in London, a judge said the decision was a triumph for budgets but a catastrophe for carers. The boy, whose identity is protected by law, is from Orkney but now lives with his carers in Cambridgeshire. The judge said the boy, who has serious heart problems, had been disowned by the state in its local authority form. The boy, Child I, was born with a heart condition on Orkney in August 2003 but his parents were unable to look after him and he is now cared for by a couple in Cambridgeshire. At first Orkney Islands Council offered the foster parents financial assistance but now say that will be withdrawn and Cambridgeshire County Council should take over, but the judge said they had "adamantly refused to become involved". In a statement lodged on their behalf, Orkney Isles Council (OIC) stated: "It is the view of OIC that 'I' has been habitually resident in England since 2005. The responsibility and rights of his parents are likely to be governed by English law." In his judgment Mr Justice Hedley said: "If this position is justifiable legally (as to which I am not convinced) it is of course a huge triumph for OIC's budget manager but a complete catastrophe for any foster parent unwise enough to rely on the word of this local authority." The judge also noted a long-running dispute between the foster couple, Mr and Mrs O, and Cambridgeshire County Council over child I's education. He added: "They could be forgiven for feeling abandoned to care for a child disowned by the state in its local authority form and they could be forgiven too if the thought ever entered their minds as to why they had taken on this child in the first place." 'Poison fruit' At one stage the judge said he was so shocked by the case that he had adjourned proceedings to ensure no "wholly improper judicial observations" escaped his lips. He added that the couple had been "stuck with the poison fruit of these two local authorities' dispute". He said: "This judgment has been reserved not because the issues are difficult (they are not) but because I did not trust myself to express my views in a temperate manner." The couple needed an official report to apply in the High Court for a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) and both Orkney and Cambridgeshire had refused to fund this. Mr Justice Hedley said when the application was made to him for an SGO there was no report, the child was ill again and the couple were dividing their time between hospital, their other three children and their business. The judge ordered Cambridgeshire to provide the report. He said that might provide "some slight relief" to the couple but did not help with their main concerns over continuing financial support. In an unusual move, the judge has made his comments public and ordered that copies were sent to government ministers in London and Edinburgh. A spokesman for Cambridgeshire County Council said: "We are well aware of this family's predicament and we will support them in every way we can. "But as the judge's ruling makes clear, there was a legal issue here which needed to be resolved and he has referred this issue to the English and Scottish governments for their consideration." He added the council shared the judge's "disappointment" that Orkney Island Council "reneged on its commitment to fund this family", which was made in 2008. Orkney Islands Council said: "The Hon Justice Hedley ruled that the responsibility for carrying out the assessment rests with Cambridgeshire County Council. "This was and remains the position taken by Orkney Islands Council from the outset."