Social Services told a grandparent, to mind their own business.

When I attended a consultation in Cardiff earlier this year on the forthcoming Family Justice Review, public law was discussed as well as private law.

When dealing with public law, so for example when the possibility of children having to go into care, grandparents should be consulted and certainly be part of the process. My understanding is that in some authorities this happens already, but it is not consistent across the country.

I hope that this is made much clearer in the new Justice Review, I have had several grandparents contact me who say that they were treated very badly by Social Services in these cases and one was told to mind her own business!

Surely, if we are to be listening to the children and their welfare is to come first ,then grandparents can be a source of security during a time when these children are very vulnerable.

Of course there may well be a minority of cases where that is not possible for child protection issues, but they are the minority.

Some of the things that are said to grandparents is totally unacceptable.

Jane.