Across the United Kingdom, families are being torn apart by false or misleading information written by social workers in family court cases. While lying under oath is already a criminal offence, there is rarely any accountability when professionals falsify reports, omit key facts, or misrepresent parents in official assessments.

 

We call on the UK Government and devolved administrations to:

 

• Make the deliberate falsification or manipulation of information by social workers a specific criminal offence across all UK nations.

 

• Create an independent UK-wide body to investigate allegations of dishonesty or misconduct in social work and family proceedings. 

 

• Guarantee legal aid and independent advocacy for parents seeking to challenge false or misleading reports.

 

• Allow recorded evidence and full access to case files in all child protection and family court cases.

 

• Require regulatory bodies such as Social Work England, Social Care Wales, the Scottish Social Services Council, and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council to take mandatory disciplinary action against any social worker found to have acted dishonestly.

 

 

Many parents who are neurodivergent, disabled, or from ethnic minority backgrounds face discrimination and misjudgment from professionals who lack understanding or accountability. False reporting not only destroys families but causes long-term psychological harm to both parents and children.

 

When lies are written into official records, they can stay there for life — affecting children when they reach adulthood and have their own families. It is time to hold social workers and local authorities to the same standards of honesty expected from every citizen.

 

Families in the UK deserve fairness, transparency, and justice.