Renfrewshire social worker struck off after vulnerable child was found "locked" in bedroom

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Renfrewshire social worker has been struck off the register after cops found a vulnerable child “locked in his room in a state of neglect”.

James Ballantyne was working as a social worker with Renfrewshire Council in Paisley when he made “repeated failures over a prolonged period of time” to reduce the risk of harm to a child.

An investigation carried out by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) found a series of incidents impaired Ballantyne’s “fitness to practise” as he failed to record and report “serious concerns and potential risks of harm” to a vulnerable child and as a result, his registration was removed.The detailed probe into Ballantyne’s actions found that, on or around June 12, 2019, following a deep clean of a property in Paisley when he identified a lock with a padlock fixed to the outside of the bedroom door of a child, he failed to record in the child’s case notes that he saw a lock on the outside of the bedroom door.Ballantyne then failed to advise his line manager of the lock on the outside of the child’s door and failed to complete a risk assessment in respect of the child following the identification of the lock on the outside of the door.The SSSC investigation also found that between June 6, 2019 and May 20, 2020 following a deep clean of a property in Paisley, Ballantyne failed to return to the property on a regular basis to check that standards of cleanliness were being maintained in all the rooms in the property.Renfrewshire Live, the new free app dedicated to bringing you around the clock breaking news, is now available to download.Powered by the Paisley Daily Express, Renfrewshire Live is your go-to source for news, features and sport with live coverage provided direct to the app,