About me
More than thirteen years' post-qualification experience across every level of children's social care and the Family Court.
More than thirteen years' post-qualification experience across every level of children's social care and the Family Court.
Parenting, risk, SGO, sibling, viability, DVRIM, and capacity to protect.
Contested hearings before magistrates and circuit judges across England and Wales.
Instructed across England and Wales.
Life Story Work, Later Life Letters, and direct work at every developmental stage.
I'm an Independent Social Worker with more than thirteen years' post-qualification experience in child and family work, including over a decade within care proceedings and the Family Court.
Since going independent, I've completed over 250 assessments across 40 local authority areas. Parenting, risk, SGO, sibling, viability, connected persons, ParentAssess, DVRIM, and capacity to protect, for more than 100 different instructing firms, teams, and Children's Guardians.
Before that, I worked as a Children's Guardian for Cafcass, a Team Manager at Middlesbrough, a Deputy Manager at Stockton, and an Advanced Practitioner in Sunderland. I've worked across MASH, Duty and Assessment, Child Protection, and Court teams.
That breadth matters. I've sat on every side of the process: as the assessing social worker, the supervising manager, and the Guardian scrutinising the work. So when I write an assessment now, I draw on what giving evidence has taught me about what the court needs from a report and how its conclusions will be tested.
Independence is the foundation of my practice. I follow the evidence wherever it leads. If the picture changes during proceedings, I'll say so, and if I'm wrong about something, I'll acknowledge it. My recommendations are grounded in what I find, not in what any party expects me to say. My reports have gone against parents and against local authorities; the evidence decides, not the party who instructed me.
In 2026 I was appointed to the BASW Independents Committee, which represents independent social workers within the British Association of Social Workers. In October 2026 I was also appointed to the Council of Nagalro, the professional association for Children's Guardians, Family Court Advisers and Independent Social Workers.
I'm also a trained counsellor, which informs the person-centred approach I take with every family I work with. I've completed direct work with over 200 children, including Life Story Work, Later Life Letters, and Social Stories.
I'm certified and experienced in each of the assessment frameworks below, and I bring the same method to reports for the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
Comprehensive parenting capacity assessments within care and pre-proceedings.
Qualified through Teesside University. Assessments under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
Specialist forensic methodology for complex cases involving identified risks of harm.
Capacity to protect. Advanced Masterclass certified.
Contact assessment framework for parent-child interaction and attachment.
Strengths-based assessment placing families at the centre of child protection planning.
Merton-compliant age assessments for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people.
Domestic Violence Risk Identification Matrix for families in care proceedings.
Updated Form K framework for kinship carers, connected persons, and family and friends.
Sibling relationship and placement assessments for the court.
Court-directed welfare reports and local authority investigations under the Children Act 1989.
Carer impact, family impact of deportation and best interests of the child reports for the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. Fees and scope.
Mediation-trained, helping families work towards agreed arrangements. Counselling-informed, person-centred approach. Kept separate from my expert work, and never combined with an assessment in the same case.
Social Work Assessment (self-employed)
250+ assessments across 40 LA areas. Public and private law. Oral evidence on 100+ occasions. Independent social work reports for the Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
Middlesbrough Council
Managed a child protection and court team with oversight of approximately 180 families.
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Supervised social workers and family support workers across child protection and court teams.
Cafcass
Represented children's interests in proceedings and provided independent recommendations to the court.
Together for Children, Sunderland
Complex court and child protection caseload. Mentored NQSWs.
Durham County Council
Care proceedings and pre-proceedings work.
Sunderland City Council
Child protection and court team. Section 47 investigations, core groups, complex CP caseloads.
Gateshead Council & Darlington Borough Council
Frontline child protection including initial assessments, Section 47 investigations, and court work.
University of Cumbria
University of Cumbria
Teesside University
Newcastle College
St. Martin's College, Lancaster
Gateshead College
I'm regularly asked to comment on child and family social work by national media. I've been interviewed by Sky News and the BBC on multiple occasions, and quoted by The Times, The Guardian, and The Mail on stories involving children's social care.
I'm a contributing author at Community Care and have been Content Editor at Social Work News.
Expert panellist at advocacy training alongside judiciary and counsel.
Speaker at the annual Student Social Worker Conference.
Training on social work professional recognition.
Counter-terrorism safeguarding training delivery.
Social Work England (SWE93532). Enhanced DBS. PI insurance through BASW, where I serve on the national Independents Committee. Council member of Nagalro. Member of Coram BAAF, Resolution, and ACPP. Listed in the Electronic Immigration Network experts directory, the BASW Independents Directory, and the UK Register of Expert Witnesses.
Available nationally across England and Wales. International assessments by arrangement. Full driving licence.
My working standard is filing five days before the filing deadline. PD25B and FPR Part 25 compliant. Assessment plan within two working days.
I liaise with the allocated social worker throughout the assessment. If safeguarding concerns or significant information emerges during interviews, I share it promptly. You won't be reading about it for the first time in the report.
Available for both privately funded and Legal Aid instruction. Rates and typical hours are published, and every instruction is quoted as a fixed number of hours. LAA-compliant invoicing.
Over 100 contested hearings. Comfortable being cross-examined and having my analysis tested. Available for pre-hearing conferences.
