Social worker Deborah Borley is suspended for failing to look into allegations mum slapped child

A SWANSEA social worker has been handed an 18-month suspension for failing to look into a claim that a mum slapped her son for not eating his vegetables.

Deborah Helen Borley, who was working for the local authority’s Child and Family Team, also didn’t fully investigate an allegation that a child was injured while not wearing his seatbelt in his mum’s car.

During the time she worked for the team it emerged that it had suffered significant ongoing problems since 2007.

On October 2008, she was allocated the case of a family of two children, who had been placed on the Child Protection Register after their mum was issued a police caution for slapping one of her youngsters for not eating his vegetables.

A report of the proceedings at the Care Standards Tribunal said: “In February 2009, the father made several complaints to the Swansea Social Services Department chief officer regarding the conduct of the case by social workers and the council. The appellant was one of the social workers allocated the case.

“Over the course of the following months, a large number of complaints were made by the family and the complaints became the subject of a Stage Two investigation aimed at resolving the complaints and enabling the family to move on.”

Following the publication of the final report on the case further complaints were made by the children’s paternal grandfather.

Borley stopped working as an agency social worker for Swansea Council on August 22, 2010.

In October of last year she was handed the suspension after her misconduct was found proven by a Care Council for Wales Conduct Committee in Cardiff.

She appealed but the suspension was upheld by the tribunal.