Is this actually allowed
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Hi all
So much has happened this week since our new sw has opened our case again but that's a different story.
Anyway we had a family trip booked starting tomorrow to France. Was booked last year by his parents for me and him , our 3 children and his parents to go. This was in the summer and got the knock in the November.
We asked the OIC and our old social worker (before our case was closed) if this was possible to go ahead or was it worth cancelling to then get some money back. They both said it would be fine even if he was charged. Anyway he was charged, went to magistrates who then passed it to crown and latest was he has plead guilty due to be sentanced next month. Would of been this month but his barrister asked if it could be after the festive period and the judge agreed. He got no bail conditions and in the judges words "go and enjoy Christmas with no conditions and enjoy it with your family). He obviously had to sign the SOR which he did straight from court.
He got a visit from ppu where him and his parents both asked about if it was okay (staying at parents as social won't allow him home yet) and they said yeah it was fine as it was in the EU as long as he did the 7 days notice in which he did the next day. Officer filling in the form even was chatting about how much they enjoyed it when they went. Got the paperwork and was finally looking forward to our family holiday with the hope for the future as we started to slowly get to the end of this sife of the journey.
Social worker has now entered our lives and ripped it apart with her own judgements etc. I've already rambled so long story short, she wasn't happy that he was allowed to go and said she was going to contact the offending manager. She questioned the rooms and we told her it would be me and my 3 children and him and his parents and we would contact the company to change the name on the room allocations. She didn't like that as she felt she couldn't trust us as she'd just met us and from.her point of view he shouldn't be allowed to go.
She went out and visited him but snuck along ppu with her where she told him that "from a social workers point of view I'm not giving you authority to go" then asked if ppu agreed and they said "yeah we now agree". They have also now said he's high risk but were absolutely fine with him going and okay with him on the first visit. PPU said they'd even contact the travel company to not allow him to travel (although not sure if that was an empty threat)
I don't understand how they are allowed to do this. He's got no restrictions, no shpo (yet but I know could be possible at sentancing) and gave notice. Just the SOR .
We are gutted and nearly cancelled as the kids didn't want to go without dad, I didn't want to go without him and his parents felt bad leaving their son behind whilst we all went. He's spoken to us all and told us he wanted to go as this was all his fault and he caused this mess so this is another one of his punishments. My heart is breaking for him.
(Social worker even told us not to even bother with stop it now or LFF as its a bunch of lies and LFF only give offenders a reason to give a poor excuse- this was after telling her I done the inform course and he's done online modules and kept in regular contact).
So im now in a hotel waiting to go away in the morning whilst he stays behind. Hes now so paranoid on where he can go and what he has to notify them on!
Can ppu actually do this? I thought only a judge can stop or anything on the shpo or register.
What about if me and him wanted to go away? We have a uk break (london) booked end of February (no children will be with us) and now I'm worried we won't be able to go. We would be going sleeping Friday and Saturday and coming home on the Sunday? Will this even be allowed or should be give up any hope until he does his sentence.
Sorry for the long post. I'm just feeling so down and worried about our future xx
So much has happened this week since our new sw has opened our case again but that's a different story.
Anyway we had a family trip booked starting tomorrow to France. Was booked last year by his parents for me and him , our 3 children and his parents to go. This was in the summer and got the knock in the November.
We asked the OIC and our old social worker (before our case was closed) if this was possible to go ahead or was it worth cancelling to then get some money back. They both said it would be fine even if he was charged. Anyway he was charged, went to magistrates who then passed it to crown and latest was he has plead guilty due to be sentanced next month. Would of been this month but his barrister asked if it could be after the festive period and the judge agreed. He got no bail conditions and in the judges words "go and enjoy Christmas with no conditions and enjoy it with your family). He obviously had to sign the SOR which he did straight from court.
He got a visit from ppu where him and his parents both asked about if it was okay (staying at parents as social won't allow him home yet) and they said yeah it was fine as it was in the EU as long as he did the 7 days notice in which he did the next day. Officer filling in the form even was chatting about how much they enjoyed it when they went. Got the paperwork and was finally looking forward to our family holiday with the hope for the future as we started to slowly get to the end of this sife of the journey.
Social worker has now entered our lives and ripped it apart with her own judgements etc. I've already rambled so long story short, she wasn't happy that he was allowed to go and said she was going to contact the offending manager. She questioned the rooms and we told her it would be me and my 3 children and him and his parents and we would contact the company to change the name on the room allocations. She didn't like that as she felt she couldn't trust us as she'd just met us and from.her point of view he shouldn't be allowed to go.
She went out and visited him but snuck along ppu with her where she told him that "from a social workers point of view I'm not giving you authority to go" then asked if ppu agreed and they said "yeah we now agree". They have also now said he's high risk but were absolutely fine with him going and okay with him on the first visit. PPU said they'd even contact the travel company to not allow him to travel (although not sure if that was an empty threat)
I don't understand how they are allowed to do this. He's got no restrictions, no shpo (yet but I know could be possible at sentancing) and gave notice. Just the SOR .
We are gutted and nearly cancelled as the kids didn't want to go without dad, I didn't want to go without him and his parents felt bad leaving their son behind whilst we all went. He's spoken to us all and told us he wanted to go as this was all his fault and he caused this mess so this is another one of his punishments. My heart is breaking for him.
(Social worker even told us not to even bother with stop it now or LFF as its a bunch of lies and LFF only give offenders a reason to give a poor excuse- this was after telling her I done the inform course and he's done online modules and kept in regular contact).
So im now in a hotel waiting to go away in the morning whilst he stays behind. Hes now so paranoid on where he can go and what he has to notify them on!
Can ppu actually do this? I thought only a judge can stop or anything on the shpo or register.
What about if me and him wanted to go away? We have a uk break (london) booked end of February (no children will be with us) and now I'm worried we won't be able to go. We would be going sleeping Friday and Saturday and coming home on the Sunday? Will this even be allowed or should be give up any hope until he does his sentence.
Sorry for the long post. I'm just feeling so down and worried about our future xx
I think legally they can't stop him from going, but the social worker can really make your life a hell if you go against her advice, escalating things etc.
I'm so sorry this is happening to you xx
I'm so sorry this is happening to you xx
Thank you for your reply
Yeah I didn't know if they legally could stop him but our social worker has already made our lives hell and she's only been in it 4 days(a complaint will be made when we come back)
I would never go against a social worker. I've said from day one that I want to work with them but at the moment she's not working with us, it feels like she's controlling us (not just him but me and other family members too) . We not the one that's none anything so we shouldn't be made to feel like we have. And I know he wouldn't go against anyone's advice. It just simply isn't worth it.
It's awful that he's going to be sat at home when it was given the go ahead to go and it really cheered him up
I guess this won't be forever and we will get our family holidays back one day xx
Yeah I didn't know if they legally could stop him but our social worker has already made our lives hell and she's only been in it 4 days(a complaint will be made when we come back)
I would never go against a social worker. I've said from day one that I want to work with them but at the moment she's not working with us, it feels like she's controlling us (not just him but me and other family members too) . We not the one that's none anything so we shouldn't be made to feel like we have. And I know he wouldn't go against anyone's advice. It just simply isn't worth it.
It's awful that he's going to be sat at home when it was given the go ahead to go and it really cheered him up
I guess this won't be forever and we will get our family holidays back one day xx
PPU officers don't have the power to stop an offender travelling unless it specifically says in an SHPO, terms of license of release from prison etc. However they have the power / duty to disclose to others if they believe that is necessary for public protection, which can include flagging risks to foreign authorities. Your person wouldn't be committing a criminal offence by going, but there would be quite a chance of getting turned back at the border or finding your hotel had cancelled his reservations. I think you need to take this trip on the nose and try and have a good a time without him as you can. It would be good for you both to discuss calmly when you are back with his PPU officer why he changed his mind and what sort of trips he would be happy with or not in future as you all get to know each other better. I'd suspect trips with just you and him are more likely to be acceptable. Make sure your person checks whether he has to go back down the police station to notify them officially that he hasn't in fact gone.
It's also worth remembering to check terms and conditions of the hotels etc, some say nobody on sor can stay there. You're less likely to meet resistance for a couples break, I won't say it's beyond the realms of possibility for ss to try and make things difficult but they wouldn't have the backing of ppu in that situation xxx
I think also there's the fact that if you've planned to go to chriatmas events etc where there will be a high volume of other children around, the social worker may be looking at things from this perspective. For example, you could see why she may have an issue if your trip is to Disnelyland.
Dear marema2233,
Thank you for posting on the forum. We’re very sorry to hear about your situation with social services, and their U-turn on your husband being able to go on your family holiday. Without knowing the details of your particular situation, it is difficult for us to comment on the decisions that have been made. However, it sounds like there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty now around your loved ones restrictions, which understandably is causing distress. It might be reassuring for him to speak to the PPU and ask them to explain the restrictions in more detail so that he is clear on what he can and can’t do. You may also wish to visit the Unlock website as it contains a lot of information and advice about the criminal justice system, and the SOR. https://unlock.org.uk/
It’s disappointing to read the comments made by the social worker about the important work that LFF does, although we do also understand and appreciate that people will have different views on the services that we provide. We can only hope that you found the Inform programme helpful and that you were able to take a lot of comfort and support from it. We do think it’s worth you highlighting the work you have done with LFF with the court, as we believe the work we do is held in high regard and that your engagement will be viewed positively.
You mention that your loved one has engaged with the helpline, and so we would encourage him to continue to do so during this very upsetting time. One of our advisors will be on hand to listen to him and provide support and advice. If you would like to discuss your situation any further then please do reach out to us on our Stop It Now helpline on 0808 1000 900.
We hope this is of some help to you.
Take care
The Forum Team
Thank you for posting on the forum. We’re very sorry to hear about your situation with social services, and their U-turn on your husband being able to go on your family holiday. Without knowing the details of your particular situation, it is difficult for us to comment on the decisions that have been made. However, it sounds like there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty now around your loved ones restrictions, which understandably is causing distress. It might be reassuring for him to speak to the PPU and ask them to explain the restrictions in more detail so that he is clear on what he can and can’t do. You may also wish to visit the Unlock website as it contains a lot of information and advice about the criminal justice system, and the SOR. https://unlock.org.uk/
It’s disappointing to read the comments made by the social worker about the important work that LFF does, although we do also understand and appreciate that people will have different views on the services that we provide. We can only hope that you found the Inform programme helpful and that you were able to take a lot of comfort and support from it. We do think it’s worth you highlighting the work you have done with LFF with the court, as we believe the work we do is held in high regard and that your engagement will be viewed positively.
You mention that your loved one has engaged with the helpline, and so we would encourage him to continue to do so during this very upsetting time. One of our advisors will be on hand to listen to him and provide support and advice. If you would like to discuss your situation any further then please do reach out to us on our Stop It Now helpline on 0808 1000 900.
We hope this is of some help to you.
Take care
The Forum Team
In my experience they will do or say anything they like, either to frighten you or to get you to agree to something. Also in my experience, it's simply not worth aggravating them. Fighting them, unfortunately didn't end well for me. X
This makes me wonder what training these SW receive and what LFF do to educate social services.
It says on the website that LFF runs training sessions for frontline workers. Do local authorities have to request that training, or is it offered to them? It might be worth finding out which local authority this SW works for and getting in touch with them at a senior level, to make sure they understand what LFF does.
It says on the website that LFF runs training sessions for frontline workers. Do local authorities have to request that training, or is it offered to them? It might be worth finding out which local authority this SW works for and getting in touch with them at a senior level, to make sure they understand what LFF does.