I recently experienced a heart-wrenching event when my child was removed from my care and placed with my father under a Special Guardianship Order (SGO). This decision by social services came as a shock to me, particularly because it was facilitated by practices that I found to be underhanded and misleading. The social services' lack of transparency, understanding of mental health issues, and appropriate training contributed to this distressing outcome.

Like many others, I have learned that our current social service system is in dire need of reform. Parents and families deserve a fair and transparent process, ensuring that their voices are heard and their circumstances are genuinely understood. Without adequate training, social service workers are ill-equipped to make informed decisions regarding mental health issues, which often leads to unjust outcomes, as in my case.

To prevent further injustices, I urge lawmakers to introduce new legislation aimed at creating a transparent and accountable social service system. This legislation should focus on the following key areas:

Brodie’s Law – Social Services Transparency, Trauma Competence and Evidence Standards Act 2025

A Bill to establish mandatory training standards for social service practitioners; to require full transparency in case management, documentation, and practitioner records; to ensure evidence-based practice; and for connected purposes.

⸻

Be it enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, as follows:

⸻

PART 1 — TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

1. Mandatory Trauma and Mental Health Training

(1) All social service practitioners involved in safeguarding, child protection, family assessment, or court reporting must undertake accredited training in:

(a) complex mental health, including trauma, PTSD and complex PTSD;

(b) trauma-induced family relationships;

(c) relationship patterns between siblings or family members who have experienced abuse by the same abuser;

(d) distinguishing protective, trauma-bonded closeness from inappropriate behaviour. 

(2) Training must be renewed every 24 months.

(3) The Secretary of State shall establish an approved national curriculum for the above training.

⸻

PART 2 — TRANSPARENCY OF PRACTITIONER RECORDS

2. Disclosure of Social Worker Competence Records

(1) Any individual or family engaged in a social services assessment must be provided, on request, with the full professional development record of each practitioner involved in their case.

(2) Records must include:

(a) qualifications and training completed;

(b) assessment grades and examiner signatures;

(c) disciplinary findings;

(d) reasons for any transfers between teams, departments, or local authorities.

(3) Local authorities must provide these records within 28 days.

⸻

PART 3 — DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION ORIGINS

3. Provision of Original Case Documents

(1) Social services must maintain and disclose to families, on request:

(a) unedited copies of all historic local authority documents relating to the family;

(b) unedited copies of all reports submitted to courts;

(c) all versions of any document where changes have been made.

(2) For each allegation or piece of information relied upon in reporting, the authority must identify:

(a) the source;

(b) the date obtained;

(c) the verification process used.

⸻

PART 4 — EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

4. Requirements for Factual Reporting

(1) All assessments and reports generated by social services must:

(a) be based solely on verifiable evidence,

(b) distinguish clearly between fact, professional judgement, and unverified concern,

(c) exclude personal opinions, assumptions, and subjective interpretations.

(2) Any breach constitutes professional misconduct.

⸻

PART 5 — ENFORCEMENT

5. Penalties

The Secretary of State shall establish:

(a) disciplinary procedures for practitioners in breach;

(b) penalties for local authorities who fail to comply with this Act.

I thank you all for taking the time to read this please JOIN THE MOVEMENT