she was on the conference speaker circuit last year claiming to be the victim and a brave whistleblower
Sharon shoe smith you just could not make this up....only in this country
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she was on the conference speaker circuit last year claiming to be the victim and a brave whistleblower
Worthingite
Sexy Pete... :D
To a certain extent, I can almost feel sorry for her. She is being vilified for the death of a child in her borough. But she didn't kill him, she wasn't the social worker assigned to Baby P's case, and at no point - at least until it was put into the public domain - was she involved in the case. At the end of the day she was a pen pusher, who has, to some extent borne the brunt of a tsunami of media backlash. I don't think for a second that she isn't a vile specimen of a woman however - to make that much lolly out of a case like this, and to chase it the way she has is grubby and tawdry to say the least.
Cadiz Seagull
Grey bearded old man
She was sacked by Balls without any real investigation. he should have suspended her, then had an investigation and if she had been found to have been in the wrong then she could have been fired without any compensation.
But no, big bad Ed decided to be judge and jury. He's the one who should carry the can for the totally unnecessary waste of public money.
She must have thought it was her birthday when she realised he had acted unlawfully, or at the very least, unfairly.
Whether or not she was guilty of gross misconduct is a completely different question.
But no, big bad Ed decided to be judge and jury. He's the one who should carry the can for the totally unnecessary waste of public money.
She must have thought it was her birthday when she realised he had acted unlawfully, or at the very least, unfairly.
Whether or not she was guilty of gross misconduct is a completely different question.
m20gull
Well-known member
No, you could not make it up. In this country we have rules that protect employees from bullying employers. You never know when you will need that protection.
- Apr 5, 2014
- 25,985
I always felt she was a scapegoat, simply because in this country we govern by headlines.
She is unlikely to have been involved in the individual case, as it probably wasn't her remit. And she has every right to make her claim.
The thing I find despicable here is the usual government interference to appease the tabloids. Realistically it was the social workers and their supervisors who were responsible for Baby P. Sharon Shoesmith had probably never heard of him until the case blew up, and her life was torn apart.
She is unlikely to have been involved in the individual case, as it probably wasn't her remit. And she has every right to make her claim.
The thing I find despicable here is the usual government interference to appease the tabloids. Realistically it was the social workers and their supervisors who were responsible for Baby P. Sharon Shoesmith had probably never heard of him until the case blew up, and her life was torn apart.
If I felt wronged, scapegoated and unfairly hung out to dry with no income I might do the same. Legally she has been determined to be a victim and she was certainly vilified by the press etc. People want their pound of flesh when (especially) a child dies from neglect and Ed Balls served her up as quick as he could for political capital.
It always strikes me as bizarre to automatically blame support services (and their bosses) for such deaths when, in most cases, we all know that there were plenty of people a lot closer to what was going on that chose not to intervene. Essentially we're a selfish bunch and, as someone once wrote 'people just ain't no good'.
Brighton Mod
Its All Too Beautiful
Highly predictable, this one is down to Ed Balls, from a party who champions looking after the working man, he breached almost every rule in employment law in doing what he did. Why isn't Balls being looked at!!! If anyone in industry did the same thing it would be the boss who would be in the spotlight.
Why so?
This.
I don't think people are aware of the sheer number of children in this country who are abused or neglected and the lack of resources that there are to deal with it. Subsequently, the bar for intervening in cases where children are at risk is high. Every social worker who works with vulnerable children will work many cases where everyone on here would think that intervention is a no-brainer. But they don't intervene because they don't have the resources. So who should we blame when inevitably a child suffers / dies? Sharon Shoesmith? Or our government who doesn't correctly fund these vital services? I vote the latter. Not least because they chose to do no investigation before sacking someone as a means to absolve themselves of any blame.
Mo Gosfield
Well-known member
- Aug 11, 2010
- 6,364
No. Most of us aren't accountants.
Some of us run small and medium sized businesses, generating wealth for the economy, employing staff, paying all our taxes in the UK, non-reliant on fat public sector pensions, working 80+ hours a week and still finding time for family/childcare responsibilities at home.
I'm sure child care services is a difficult profession but then so are many others. They all carry their share of pressure and responsibility. Sharon Shoesmith should have resigned gracefully and with dignity but relied on our compensation culture to set her up nicely. She got the equivalent of five years salary ( £130k pa....ffs....unbelievable ) and if she lives off £30k a year, well thats another 20+ years taken care of.
It saddens me but doesn't surprise me. The public purse is raided all too often for compensation, handout or reward for failure. Its like signing up for a privileged club. Don't worry, we'll look after you.
The lunatics took over the asylum a long time ago. They knew a good thing when they saw it.
I have no idea whether she was or wasn't culpable for the fiasco where that little chap died unnecessarily. What is clear is that the process of care was deeply flawed. The other thing that was brutally clear was that Ed Balls once again showed how inept he is by not following due process. The man is an extreme buffoon. A nearly £700000 payout is absurd.
What a load of Ed Balls. 'I'm sure child care services is a difficult profession'. Frankly, I don't think you have a clue about how difficult it is. I've no doubt you are oblivious to the horror that's out there.
Please - tell everyone what you do for a living. Let's compare the difficult decisions you make every day with those of a social worker in children services.
The biggest problem I have with this sort of story is that we are in danger of losing sight of who the real villains are in this awful episode, and it's not the woman who is obviously paid ridiculously well to do her job.
As for the woman herself, I have absolutely no idea whether she was good at her job or not. Of those slaughtering her, can someone tell me how long had been in the job? She's obviously paid to ensure her staff were doing their jobs properly, but often putting improved procedures and checks in place can take years.
As for the woman herself, I have absolutely no idea whether she was good at her job or not. Of those slaughtering her, can someone tell me how long had been in the job? She's obviously paid to ensure her staff were doing their jobs properly, but often putting improved procedures and checks in place can take years.
I'd have to agree with you here. I genuinely don't believe the general public really understand just how difficult it is. I have a good friend who moved from child care services fairly recently. In summary, he became demoralised because he was having to make real choices (given the budget) between helping child A getting battered by drug addicted parents and helping child B getting battered and sexually abused by drug addicted parents.
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You sound bitter about something. What is it?
MarioOrlandi
New member
- Jun 4, 2013
- 580
****ING UNBELIEVABLE!!! Nearly 700 grand in compensation for not doing her job, well I hope she and her team responsible for this young child can sleep at night.
Not sure what you're saying? I'm not bitter. I am angry though about the level of child abuse and neglect in this country and our government's lack of interest in adequately funding a response to it.
As I say, I'm not really sure what you're getting at.
Quite. Of course, that shouldn't be a choice, but a sensible discussion about what we as a society are willing to tolerate in terms of risk to our children isn't possible. Our politicians don't want that debate because the answers may pose them big problems.
glasfryn
cleaning up cat sick
there is why, I could not have put it so well myself
the buck stopped with her, she did not do her job and blamed others
Bognor Bystander
Looking for a new job
Unfortunately this one is down to Ed Balls not following the procedure to suspend, properly investigate and ultimately think about the consequences before he took any action. If any of us were dismissed unfairly we would do all we could to clear our names and/or get compensation for such a wrongdoing. The amount may be disproportionate in my eyes but that's what has been set aside in this case. Other issues caused this tragedy - lack of funding, stretched resource and sadly horrible people who didn't respect a vulnerable child's life.