A lovely family I know is trapped in the most horrendous legal wrangling over their desire to care for a distantly related boy who is seriously ill and was born with a  congenital heart problem. His own parents were unable to care for him.

This couple from Cambridgeshire, who have fostered the sick boy, are caught in the middle of a heartless funding row between Orkney Islands Council, where the six-year-old boy comes from, and Cambridgeshire County Council. The judge said the boy had been “disowned by the state”, and that the couple had been "stuck with the poison fruit of these two local authorities’ dispute".

This case so shocked the judge that he has reserved judgement, “not because the issues are difficult (they are not) but because I did not trust myself to express my views in a temperate manner."

The facts of this shameful case have been widely reported in the national media. Orkney Island Council stopped payments to the couple, who are the boy’s foster parents, while the authority in Cambridgeshire had “adamantly refused to become involved.”

In his judgment Mr Justice Hedley said: "If this position is justifiable legally (as to which I am not convinced) it is of course a huge triumph for OIC’s budget manager but a complete catastrophe for any foster parent unwise enough to rely on the word of this local authority.

"They could be forgiven for feeling abandoned to care for a child disowned by the state in its local authority form and they could be forgiven too if the thought ever entered their minds as to why they had taken on this child in the first place."

The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had applied to the High Court for a Special Guardianship Order, but both Orkney and Cambridgeshire refused to fund an official report for this. The judge ordered Cambridgeshire to provide it.

I cannot begin to imagine the helplessness and frustration this kind-hearted family with their genuine desire to help this poor young lad must feel. I wonder how many other similar cases there are which we haven’t heard about.

Don’t these funding managers ever consider the human aspect of their decision making, and the impact it will have on people’s lives? Where is their real sense of responsibility, of duty and care? All those involved should hang their heads in shame. How would they feel if this sick boy was a relative of theirs?

I am in contact with the woman involved who wants to provide stability and care for this little lad; she is a mother of three and a professional woman who I admire greatly and surely deserves the support of local authorities, and not their indifference.

I will keep you posted.