THE social work team responsible for Liam Fee were “dysfunctional” and hit by “personality clashes”, a tribunal heard yesterday.
A witness described a toxic atmosphere in Fife Council’s Child Protection Team.
Senior social worker Sharon Barr said the team were “split into two camps” with some members refusing to talk to each other on a daily basis.
She said the atmosphere affected at least two serious cases in 2013 – including an at-risk baby and a girl assaulted by her mother.
The evidence was heard at the fitness to practice hearing of Liam Fee’s social worker, Lesley Bate.
Barr, who worked with Bate for three months in early 2013, said: “There were personality issues in the team and I didn’t want to become embroiled in any of it.
“I took the clashes not to be work-based. There was a split in the team – almost like they were in two separate camps.”
Asked if the “dysfunctionality” and “lack of communication” had an impact on the team’s work, Barr conceded it did.
She said team manager Karen Pedder, who gave evidence at the trial of Liam’s killers, never mentioned the negative atmosphere at team meetings and nothing was done to resolve the issues.
Barr, a former police officer who has been a social worker for 21 years, told the conduct sub-committee of the Scottish Social Services Council about cases Bate had been responsible for.
She said Bate, 60, left a child identified as AA “at risk of harm” by failing to follow up on reports that the child’s parents were living in squalor.
Barr added: “There were dirty nappies lying around and ingrained dirt.
“There was no record of Lesley Bate carrying out any visits or of tasks being done.
“We had left a child in a very risky and vulnerable condition. No one was monitoring the situation.”
She said AA “fell off the radar” – the phrase Pedder used about Liam at the trial of killers Rachel and Nyomi Fee.
Barr also told the tribunal that in another case, Bate recommended that a girl be given back to the mother who had assaulted her – even though bosses had ordered her to change her recommendations ahead of a case conference.
Another witness, social work assistant Jackie Meek, also described the bad atmosphere in the team.
She said: “There was a number of issues with the dynamics – it was divided.”
Meek described some of the time working with Bate as a “bitter experience”.
Bate faces 13 charges relating to the cases of 16 children over three years. Two relate to Liam Fee.
It’s alleged Bate failed to follow up on reports that Liam suffered bruising in January 2013 and a neck injury weeks later.
Official Tracey Burke, who investigated the claims, said Bate failed to follow up on the case or make notes about it on council computer systems.
She allegedly blamed pressure of work for her failures, despite other workers saying her case load was not excessive.
The hearing in Dundee continues. Bate has “relinquished” her registration as a social worker but does not admit any of the charges.
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