Foster carers demand Rotherham council apology

THE couple at the centre of the UKIP fostering row have made a fresh demand for an apology from under-fire council chiefs, branding the borough council’s children’s services department “not fit for purpose”.

In an exclusive interview with the Rotherham advertiser, the foster mum insisted that the department had mistreated her and her husband in removing three children from their care and was in need of a complete revamp.

The council apologised last month over their handling of the fostering dispute but said removing the two girls and a boy from an emergency placement with the couple was “in the children’s best interests”, while the Department for Education said the matter was now closed.

But the angry foster carer, who asked not to be named to protect the children’s identity, said: “They have done so much damage I think they should lose their jobs.

“All they have apologised for is the ‘impression’ they left, following media interviews, that the removal of the children was solely because of our UKIP membership.

“We are determined that no foster carer in Rotherham will suffer the same prejudices and bullying as we have.”

The woman denied council claims that the couple had put the three siblings at risk by waiving their own anonymity.

The borough council said legal reasons prevented them from releasing further details of the case and declined to comment on the couple’s claims.

Read the full interview in the Rotherham Advertiser.