Compliance Visit from DWP

Fluffybug

LittleMax wrote: »

I think your bigger concern should be Children's Services. Your children are under a child protection order and it sounds like you are in breach of the contact arrangements that have been agreed. You are allowing your husband into your home to have contact with the children for 48 hours each week. You refer to going out to do errands when he wakes up, so I am assuming he is then with the children alone. You have not given full details of the contact arrangements but I am assuming from the background you provide that your partner is not supposed to have unsupervised contact.

You need to work with Children's Services - no matter whether you agree with them or not. They are working at all times to protect the children. Yes, it will be a long and difficult process to demonstrate to the professionals that your husband is not a risk to the children. But if you really want to get back together then do it properly, and, for your children's sake, make sure that your husband is getting the help he needs and really isn't a risk. You yourself have called the police out to have him removed in the past ... you say that this wasn't in front of the children, but is that really the case? If things were so bad the police had to be called out the children won't have slept through it.

Firstly, he is allowed unsupervised contact. My CPP isn't really up for an in-depth discussion here, but I will state now that I comply to it all, and the arrangements with my husbands access were all run by CS first, so this is nothing for you to worry about.
Secondly, the police were called to remove him from the property after I had asked him to leave. It was as a preventative measure as opposed to being as a result of a serious incident. We never have screaming matches, and the children have never witnessed, either seeing, hearing or otherwise, anything between us. Having both grown up in troubled households, we ensure our children aren't exposed to problems.
In fact, the only time my children have seen me cry is as a result of children's services.

Fluffybug

spacey2012 wrote: »

They will cross check what you tell them with evidence they hold.
As they have Power of RIPA, expect this to be E-mail's and telephone call interception and surveillance evidence.
A home visit usually is the last part of evidence gathering.
If all corresponds, they will close the file.

Really? Well at least their evidence will support my side of things then, that's a relief.

Hampshire345

Fluffybug wrote: »

Hi all.
I have a compliance visit soon from DWP. I am a single mother to two and claim income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit, child benefit and child tax credit. I have been on benefits for about 7 months since my husband and I separated.
Unfortunately, I have a strange situation. My husband and I separated as we were arguing lots and I had him removed twice by police.
He also has a personality disorder and as a result of these two things (disorder and the police visits) our children are under a child protection order. Despite the fact my ex never hit me, and we never argued in front of the kids (or even when they were awake!), children's services still stuck their oar in and are using my husbands mental illness as proof that he will hurt me or the kids.
Anyway, the point is, although my husband and I would like to fix our marriage, and intend to go to counselling, children's services have told us we cannot get back together until they have an up to date psychiatric report or they will take our children. Unfortunately, there's a 6 month waiting list for this, and his regular psych went off on maternity leave 4 months ago and he hasn't been seen by anyone since, despite asking to.
So, currently, we are separated (albeit begrudgingly) for the sake of the children. He is staying with a friend a 90 minute bus ride away, and has recently started work 5 days a week. Although he is on the local housing register and has supporting letters from social services etc, he is on a low banding, and there hasn't been a single property available to bid on in this banding since he went on the list 6 months ago!
He sees the kids Mon, Tue, Wed between 6-8, then goes home. Then he comes over on Friday night and leaves Sunday night. He sleeps in our bed on Friday night, and I sleep on the sofa and get up with the children on Saturday mornings, meaning my ex can sleep in and then not have a 90 minute commute through the city centre before he sees the kids. When he wakes up, I usually go out and do the food shopping and any errands etc.
Saturday night we swap, and I have a lie in on Sunday. Then we spend the day doing activities with the children. Then he'll go home.
He uses my address as a correspondence address as he has no permanent fixed address.
He doesn't pay maintenance, although he usually buys milk & nappies for the kids. He doesn't contribute to the bills, we are not a couple, he doesn't live with me, we don't share a bed, and we have been expressly forbidden to even be a couple by children's services, however I'm worried that as we are still on such good terms and he therefore has such regular relaxed contact, that they will get the wrong impression.
Can anyone help? I intend to be honest with them, but how can I make them see that I am not fiddling the system?
I would LOVE to have my husband home, living as a family, but we are simply not allowed.
Someone has obviously reported me for benefit fraud (I have my suspicions that it's actually children's services, but that's another story).
I also have mental health issues (manic-depression and anxiety) and this is stressing me, I know in my heart I've done nothing wrong, but I also know how weird this situation is.
I would appreciate any advice.
Sorry for the long post!

The best thing to do would be to tell them nothing, and in future let your husband see the children somewhere other then your home.

Hampshire345

spacey2012 wrote: »

They will cross check what you tell them with evidence they hold.
As they have Power of RIPA, expect this to be E-mail's and telephone call interception and surveillance evidence.
A home visit usually is the last part of evidence gathering.
If all corresponds, they will close the file.

they will not go that far

Fluffybug

Hampshire345 wrote: »

The best thing to do would be to tell them nothing, and in future let your husband see the children somewhere other then your home.

Unfortunately, access away from the home for the most part would not be possible. He's here 6pm-8pm, that's the children's dinner time, bath time and bed time. Also, he has nowhere other than my house to take the children (the friend he's staying with lives in an absolute hovel, full of cats and cat wee, I wouldn't ever let my children go there. It's bad enough I can't protect my husband from it!)

41_and_i_know_it

I'm not sure what to say to be perfectly honest. I think you were right to post this thread and I think it is good that people have responded albeit some encouraging and some obviously do not understand or care about your situation.
Please whatever you do look after yourself and your emotional and mental well-being and don't allow negative or judgemental comments to bring you down. Today is the start of a new year. It is a public holiday, take this time to charge your batteries and write things down, tomorrow get some proper advice from whoever you feel you can trust and whoever is not liable to manipulate things. I know I will be criticised for this post but the main thing I am trying to say is you FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD because you need to be well and calm in order to make the right decisions for you and your children. I know you are intelligent and when everything overwhelms it is the emotions that mess up the decisions you make. Please look after yourself and then you will be more likely to be able to think straight. I can't make my decisions at the moment because my emotions are shredded so I wish you all the best it is easier to see others going through it because I'm going through a similar situation. Hope this helps.

mandiskem

there are social services that will provide a contact centre for your husband to see them.if your kids are on at risk register and ur husband is seeing his children be aware the kids could go into care and you could lose them until they are at least 18.when i was 3 i got took away by the police from my real family due to nearly the same thing as ur saying,the police and social services and childrens services will have the power to remove the kids at anytime. if you was in a relationship and u split up amicably which means no social services involved no police either. the rules for dwp is the kids father or mother depending which of the parents have them full time they can stay 3 times a week only. you say access away from your home isnt possible the only way ur going to get the childrens services off your back is let the kids see their dad at a contact centre this will prove to the childrens services that ur doing all u possibly can to protect the kids if you carry on the way u are now the kids will be taken away and believe me its very hard to get them back out of the system . i know a woman who had 3 young kids the eldest 2 was old enough to leave home.she has mental health issues and they put her kids in care and she wont ever get them back.compliance officer means someone has grassed u up for something could be extra money ,working etc,but in ur case would prob be your hubby staying there and when he comes to see the kids some nosey !!!!!! round ur way might think he staying there etc good luck

Mojisola

It's far better for the children to see their father at home than in a contact centre and, as SS are happy with the arrangement, there's no point changing it.

mandiskem

if shes getting watched ,unannounced visits from them etc surely childrens contact centre would be best choice to get them off her back they aint giving her breathing space having someone constantly breathing down your neck isnt good for anyone,constantly watching every move u make to make sure she`s not doing this n that if i`d have them coming round all the time i`d be sick of it wouldnt you

Fluffybug

MissPiggy50 wrote: »

You've got a Gud thing goin, lot a money comin in an don't have to put up wiv a fella all week, keep it goin, just feed ss the story in your first post, theyl probablly leave you to it

I've hardly got a lot if money coming in. I'd be financially better off if my husband moved back, not to mention in a much better place mentally.
It would also save me having to explain to my son why, when he wakes in the middle of the night, he can't have the "daddy snuggles" he wants.
I'd also not have ignorant people tarring me with the "scrounger" brush.