AN angry father from St Albans has hit out at the county's family support services after he claimed its volunteers are failing to maintain neutrality.
The father has called for the Hertfordshire County Council to enforce stricter guidelines on its workers, claiming that far from remaining neutral, staff were acting with bias in their dealings with parents.
He claimed a volunteer working at Hertfordshire County Council's Fleetville Family Support Centre, in Hatfield Road, had told him he would no longer be able to see his son, effectively cancelling access originally given in court.
Speaking on Tuesday, September 4, he said: "I have been granted weekly contact to my son by the court and it is disgusting that a voluntary organisation can override a judges decision on access.
"She told me three or four times that my access was cancelled and I do not know when I will next get to see my son.
"I feel that their behaviour has been totally biased and I know I'm not the only father to encounter this."
The city's child contact centre is run by Hertfordshire County Council and prides itself on being a place of total neutrality where sometimes warring parents can see their children without coming into contact with each other.
Its literature states that: "Volunteers have the child's best interest in mind at all times."
The centre declined to comment on accusations that its "neutrality" had been compromised by staff.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the children and families division of Watford County Court said that only a judge had the power to grant or cancel access rights.
A spokesman for the court said: "If the judge has made an order they must stick to that or go back to court."
A spokeswoman for the county council's children, schools and families department said: "If there has been any ill-advised action taken by staff at the Fleetville Contact Centre, appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again.
"The purpose of contact centres is to provide safe and secure contact for children and their parents.
"Volunteers have the children's best interests in mind at all times and aim to provide a completely neutral atmosphere."
September 5, 2001 15:16
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