Foster care deemed more suitable for children than the North

Two children from Hampshire were forced to spend months in foster care rather than being sent to live with their aunt in Yorkshire because social services feared they could not adapt to the northern county’s “culture”.

After being removed from their parents the siblings, a boy and girl, were put into care after a social worker said it was feared their southern accents would leave them ‘isolated’ if they moved 200 miles to Yorkshire.

The aunt, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was “stunned” when Hampshire Social Services told her the reason her nephew and niece could not come and live with her.

She herself had been brought up in Hampshire but moved to Kirklees several years ago, along with other family members.

After the children were placed in foster care she decided to launch legal action to be their guardian, arguing they needed to be with a blood relative after experiencing a traumatic time.

After a nine-month custody battle started last August, she was finally awarded custody.

She said: “The children needed to be with their family at such a difficult time for them.

“I put myself forward as a carer. I work. I have a loving family close by. I thought that, together, we could show them what real family life was like. They had had a tough time at home.

“However, their social worker decided that the children ‘had grown up within the southern region and couldnt adapt to the change in area and culture’.

“Apparently, speaking with a Southern accent would cause difficulties and isolation.”

Nigel Priestley, senior partner with Ridley & Hall solicitors, Huddersfield, who took on her case, said: “Choosing to put children into foster care because of the Yorkshire culture is one of the most bizarre social services decisions I have ever come across.

“This case is an extreme example of the challenges that many kinship carers face.

“All sorts of obstacles can be put in their way by social services but thankfully, my client had a very sensible judge and the support of an excellent legal team.

“But decided not to place the children with her and the reason given was that the social worker didn’t think they could cope with a different culture.”

Calls to Hampshire social services were not returned.