A proven abuser was appointed to Head of Adult Social Services at Reading Council – but who’s been involved in covering it all up?

Member for Adult Social Services at the time of the appointment was Councillor Tony Jones

The straight answer to the question posed in our headline above is:

The above 46 councillors. They all knew. But there appears to be a “coming together” and a rare example of cross-party unity on this issue. Labour, Tories, Greens and a solitary Lib Dem, they’re all colluding to say absolutely nothing.

Shame on them all for their ongoing silence, hypocrisy and inaction.

We first discovered that former Wirral Social Services employee Maura Noone had been appointed as Reading Council’s Head of Adult Social Care on 1st June 2018 when we browsed across to the excellent Wirral Leaks blog.

Here’s the Wirral Leaks link, which revealed her appointments at both Northamptonshire Council and later Reading Council:

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2018/06/01/where-are-they-now-part-5-6-maura-noone-and-mike-fowler/

And the subsequent story, announcing her departure from Reading Council:

https://wirralleaks.wordpress.com/2018/07/14/noone-becomes-no-one/

In between times, we got busy taking the message about her abusive record to the Reading Council CEO, the Reading Council Leader, the Reading Council Mayor – who blocked us – and the Reading Council member for Adult Social Services.

In case you’re harbouring doubts that abuse of disabled people by a council could have occurred, here’s an admission to precisely this brand of abuse (the theft of £736,756.97 from the bank accounts of learning disabled council tenants overseen by Maura Noone and Mike Fowler over a nine-year period) by Wirral Council themselves:

https://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=21125

wirral council disabled abuse statement

Thanks for your interest in this. We won’t be re-telling the story here but if you’d like to explore the background and finer detail on this, there are some handy links below.

The original offences were exposed some years ago, investigated, reported upon, taken to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission – who found disability discrimination – and brought before an Information Tribunal, but no senior officer or councillor at Wirral Council was ever properly held to account.

We made a formal submission to the tribunal, cautioning them that should they fail to act, they would be encouraging a dangerous situation – such as the one that occurred at Reading Council – to arise in the future, but we were ignored…

Update on 23rd January 2021

From 8 years ago today…in the Wirral News.

The full history to this dangerous debacle:

1 An emergency safeguarding message has been left with our representative on Wirral Council, Seacombe Councillor Adrian Jones – 4th June 2018

2 The causal link between a Wirral Council failure and a safeguarding emergency – 5th June 2018

3 Safeguarding Emergency. An updating email to Councillor Jo Lovelock, Leader of Reading Council – 13th June 2018

4 Reading Council latest. We hate saying “We told you so…” but… – 14th June 2018

5 It looks like holding Wirral and Reading Councils to account is not going to be easy

6 Reading Council latest. The emergency safeguarding situation. Here’s some “Private Eye” cuttings.

7 Thousands endangered in Reading. Here’s the FOI request spelling it all out. Yet still… Wirral Council FAILED

8 It’s “Wirral In It Together” ……as the Wirral Tory Leader closes ranks to march in step with his Labour chums

9 Reading Council Safeguarding emergency. Confirmation of Noone and Fowler’s compromise agreements

10 Our local councillor Adrian Jones washes his hands of Wirral Council abuse, then passes the buck to Reading Council

11 A crime suspect is chased through Wallasey by the police. What happened next…? And do we have our priorities right……..??

12 High Noone at Reading Council. Danger averted…

13 We tried exposing a safeguarding emergency in Reading, but came up against an obstacle… er, a journalist!

14 A response is now in to the Reading Council / Maura Noone FOI request

15 https://wirralinittogether.blog/2018/09/09/a-reading-green-party-councillor-fails-to-notify-the-public-that-reading-labour-council-had-appointed-an-abuser-as-head-of-adult-social-care/

Finally, here’s a list of the Councillors / organisations that blocked us on Twitter in response to the news that they themselves had put their own citizens in harm’s way by acting in such a dangerous, negligent and reckless manner:

wirral council blocking