So, it starts by treating public sector workers with suspicion and distrust - self-centred people who's one aim in life is to loaf around, come out on strike at the drop of a hat, and generally treat "customers" - as users are now known - in an offhand, casual manner.

The targets regime, as it applies to social workers, demonstrates the destructive nature of Game Theory as applied to child protection.

Sue White, Karen Broadhurst, Chris Hall and Dave Wastell, undertook research in five local authorities in England and Wales:

The findings of our research ... raise serious questions about whether well-intentioned, modernised systems may actually have compromised the conditions in which good practice can flourish.

Practice is now configured through the integrated children's system (ICS), an electronic recording, performance management and data sharing system much lauded by government and senior mangers as a valuable and time saving tool for social workers and ultimately the multi-agency safeguarding system.

This is at odds with what we have seen.

The onerous workflows, 'tasks' and forms associated with ICS compound difficulties in meeting timescales and targets imposed by government.

Social workers are acutely concerned with performance targets, such as moving the cases flashing in red on their screens into the next phase of the workflow within timescale.

Of course, the technology is not the child, so switching off the flashing red light bears no relationship to protecting a child – something of which social workers and managers are acutely aware.

But workflow slippages carry sanctions.

Across our sites, social workers report spending between 60% and 80% of their time at the computer screen and this was borne out by our observations.

The details required by ICS are often repetitive and rarely read by others.

They do not promote good decision-making.

Many versions of the system are unstable and work is routinely lost ...

'Repeating the same mistakes' 19 November 2008

Rev Michael J Davies, writing as a local councillor, describes the asymmetry of expectations as between central government and it's minions - for it's clear that this is the perception - in local government:

... a warning bell rang with me when it was reported that social workers were saying that the children's department is under-resourced and understaffed, and that they have to spend 60 per cent of their time writing reports and filling in forms ...

I am a local councillor and our hard-pressed clerk is often at her desk till 8pm trying to cope with the mountains of paperwork. Just last week we learned (we had not been notified) that new Freedom of Information Regulations require a revised Publication Scheme to be adopted from 1 January 2009, with dire penalties if this is not done. This requires additional work by the clerk and the calling of a special council meeting.

... when we want something from the bureaucracy we wait months: when they want something from us, we all have to drop the real work to comply. People in public service are struggling. New rules and requirements are promulgated every 10 minutes, while resources decline inexorably ...

'Stifling bureaucracy impedes child-protection'

At the same time we learn that Ofsted - government's school inspector took over from the Commission for Social Care Inspection, appropriately enough, on 1st April 2007 - brings its own inimitable style to the task of child protection, in that it penalises social services - "marks are deducted" - if children are 'on the books' for more than two years.

This switches the focus from the needs of the child - and the family - to getting a good report from a Stalinist quango.

'A three-star report – and a tortured child'

The Times asks: 'How many more Baby Ps are there?'

The Guardian tells us that the agencies miss eight cases out of ten.

There are no penalties for not finding them, which is just as well since there are not enough social workers to offer an effective service as it is:

About 11% of posts were vacant, rising to 30% in some of the most stressful urban communities.

Staff turnover was high and managers relied on agency staff to fill their rosters ... (thus) ... social workers (who) are supposed to have a caseload of 10 ... will often have 30 to 40.    [GDN]

Perversely - cock-up or conspiracy? - government has added to social workers burdens by raising the fees for taking child protection cases to court [GDN]

Perhaps we should be surprised at how few Child P's there are?

Ed Balls denies influencing Baby P report on Sharon Shoesmith

Nothing to do with me, gov, I'm only the control freak in charge.

Yours etc,

Joseph Vassarionovich Balls

... Balls insisted the watchdog's report which followed the death of Baby Peter, a child on Haringey's child protection register, was independent and said he would make the same decision - that Shoesmith was "unfit to lead" the department – today.

"At no point did I or anybody in my department ever seek to influence the outcome of the independent Ofsted report," he said.

"The reality was when the inspectors came to see us they said to us the situation in Haringey was terrible, and they said things to us in the meeting which were seriously tougher than even the very damning report they published on the day.

"It was on that basis that I acted, I don't think I had any choice at all, and nothing I've read in any of the months since then and all of these detailed papers changes my view on that at all ... There was a huge failure of management leadership and we had to act and we did."

Shoesmith was dismissed without compensation by Haringey council from her £130,000-a-year post in December 2008, a week after Balls ordered her summary removal.

Her case for judicial review claims that the actions of Balls, Ofsted and Haringey were unfair and in breach of natural justice, and have left her penniless and practically unemployable. All three parties contest the application ...

Guardian  02 April 2010

Baby Peter sacking was lawful

Baby P files show police left him in danger

Ofsted changed Shoesmith report

Baby P report on Sharon Shoesmith 'was beefed up to remove her'

Ofsted accused of complacency on child protection

We failed over Haringey - Ofsted

Child protection adviser warns Treasury off cuts

Treasury demands for cuts will seriously affect social workers' ability to protect vulnerable youngsters at a time when greater strains are being put on the service, the government's chief adviser on the safety of children warned yesterday.

Sir Roger Singleton said that the Treasury had already demanded £300m from the non-schools budget for children. The "increase in demand and higher expectations of performance is not being matched by the provision of additional resources [and] the capacity of the relevant services to keep children safe will inevitably be diminished", Singleton said.

Rising numbers of referrals of vulnerable youngsters to social services and an increase in court applications is placing "significant pressure" on child protection officers.

In his first report to parliament, Singleton said that the turning point for children's social services was the Baby Peter case in Haringey, north London, where staff had come under pressure for a series of mishaps that led to the death of the toddler. Since then social work had become "more complex and pressured".

The figures for the three months to December 2009 showed court applications jumped by 21%. There have also been increases in referrals to children's social care, initial assessments and core assessments ...

Guardian  18 Mar 2010    Deprived Children    

Failures that led to mother starving Khyra Ishaq to death 'beyond belief'

• Warnings from schools not taken seriously – judge
• Seven-year-old resembled camp victim when found
• Mother and stepfather admit manslaughter ...

The tragedy of Khyra's death was summed up by a high court judge who said: "It is beyond belief that, in 2008, in a bustling, energetic and modern city like Birmingham, a child of seven was withdrawn from school and thereafter kept in squalid conditions for a period of five months before finally dying of starvation."

Khyra had been taken out of school by her mother, Angela Gordon, for what she claimed was home learning but Birmingham council had been repeatedly warned by her deputy headteacher about her welfare.

Social workers followed up three calls from the teacher but found nothing wrong. Two education officials from the local authority also questioned Gordon about home teaching but were not allowed to see Khyra.

Gordon claimed the child had had a late night and was asleep upstairs.

The last social worker saw Khyra on the doorstep of her home in February 2008 and said there was no cause for concern. Within 12 weeks, Khyra was dead ...

Guardian  25 Feb 2010

Council and social workers failed to act on signs of abuse

Judge attacks council over Khyra Ishaq

Starved girl Khyra Ishaq failed by social services

Mother of Khyra Ishaq who starved to death cleared of murder

Khyra Ishaq's mother convicted of manslaughter

Council boss 'will not quit'

'Our pledge'

This social work by computer system is protecting no one

Every day, social workers are being asked to make sophisticated judgments. They’re expected to make accurate assessments of motivation, psychology, character and capacity for change. When they get those judgments badly wrong, as happened in Doncaster, they risk being mercilessly and publicly criticised. Yet they aren’t given the training, the time, the freedom or the resources to produce the results we want.

Over two decades the reaction of governments to every high-profile tragedy in social work has been to create ever more restrictive systems in which staff must operate. The belief is that human error will be reduced if only all the proper procedures are followed. The lives of social workers are governed by the integrated children’s system (ICS), a computer model that tells staff when they must file reports, communicate with other agencies and complete assessments.

Responding to the computer timetable has become a much higher priority than responding to the complicated, messy needs of the humans it is meant to serve. Staff now spend far more time on forms and in meetings than they do with their clients. Twenty years ago 30% of their time was spent with families; now it is just 11% ...

Times  24 Jan 2010

Pressure grows for full report on torture boys to be published

Edlington Attack

David Cameron missed an opportunity to say something sensible about yet another lamentable failure by the public 'services' in respect of the Edlington torture case.

Instead, he 'went off on one' about 'broken Britain', seemingly oblivious as to the fatal wounds society received from his predecessor Margaret Thatcher.

In appearing to blame New Labour for the actual crimes he showed himself unable to separate the crime itself from those, er, 'services' tasked with preventing such crimes.

By hollowing-out local political and social responsibility, and centralising control, Blatcherism offer us the odious spectacle of Mr Ed 'Nothing to do with me' Balls spouting the familiar clap-trap about 'learning lessons'!

The Irresponsible Society

The social context of the Edlington case is as depressing as the crime itself. The court heard that brothers had a “toxic home life” marked by “routine aggression, violence and chaos”. One brother watched gruesomely violent movies. He also drank routinely and smoked cannabis grown on his father’s allotment.

There was also a chronic failure by the social services. A leaked report by local care authorities — to which the judge was denied access — reveals that there were 31 occasions on which nine different agencies failed to take action about the brothers’ behaviour ...

Yesterday (David Cameron) warned that Britain was becoming an “irresponsible society.” He is right.

Britain is not broken, but it will have failed in its most basic responsibilities if it looks the other way from Edlington.

The violence and depravity of the torturers was exceptional. The neglect — by parents, by the community, by government — was all too familiar.

These are not easy issues. They will not be solved by a politician’s neat catchphrase. But nor will they be solved by looking the other way.

Times  23 Jan 2010

Torture attack by brothers 'was preventable'

After the court hearing, Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board released a review of the case. It said that the brothers’ family had been known to the authorities but that Children’s social care services were “reluctant” to get involved.

The board's chairman Roger Thompson said: “The review has concluded there were serious failings in local services, and the Executive Summary report has indicated that the assault was a preventable incident.”

The Edlington case brought immediate comparisons with the murder of James Bulger, committed by 10-year-old friends Robert Thompson and John Venables in 1993.

But, worryingly, joins other recent high-profile cases such as those of Peter Connelly and Victoria Climbie, where errors have been made by social. While this case is different in that the perpetrators rather than the victims were those known to social services, it has attracted similar criticism.

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls promised the Government would “learn lessons from the case: “So that in future we don't have a repeat of such a terrible, unusual and horrific case.” ...

Independent  22 Jan 2010

Edlington: report into failures says council treated sadistic brothers as 'naughty boys'

A short summary of the serious case review into Doncaster children’s services and eight other agencies, including police, said that, while the severity of the attack was unpredictable, serious failings by social workers in particular meant that many opportunities to avert it were missed ...

The review noted that many agencies were involved with the family but none were able to make the boys, or their parents and brothers, change their violent ways.

Too much effort was spent on voluntary agreements and warnings and other measures that were “insufficiently authoritative”.

It particularly criticised children’s social services, which was at first reluctant to get involved at all, then did not act with “sufficient purpose” to deal with the family, which were notorious and feared in their area.

Social workers lost focus and were sidetracked into spending time on the needs of the boys’ mother, who was a drug user and a victim of domestic violence. She was “able to exert too much influence on what individual professionals did”.

The brothers were treated as “naughty boys” rather than children in need of swift and effective intervention.

Education staff at the council failed to take appropriate action when the brothers were excluded from school, which meant that they did not receive any education.

The review concluded that the boys’ behaviour had become so extreme by late 2008 that professionals were “overwhelmed” and lacked the confidence to do anything at all.

However, there was anger that the summary was so short and, with a narrative of only two and a half pages, left so many unanswered questions ...

Times  22 Jan 2010

'Toxic family life' of Edlington brothers

Caught between a depressive, drug-dependent mother and a violent, obsessively jealous father, the boys grew up, in the words of a defence barrister, amid "routine aggression, violence and chaos". It was, he said, a "toxic family life" ...

Left unsupervised, the boys smoked cigarettes and their father's home-grown cannabis and drank spirits. They watched pornographic and violent films, identified in court as a possible inspiration for the sexual element of their attack.

Matters came to a head when the father left. Within months, the boys' mother asked that they be taken into care as she could not cope with their behaviour, bringing about their move to a foster home in Edlington, just south-east of Doncaster ...

Even then, it seems, there were missed chances. Another neighbour said that when the mother, a heavy cannabis user, called social services she "begged" them to put the boys in separate foster homes as she feared what they might do if left together. This was ignored ...

Guardian  22 Jan 2010

Pie boss Mark Hodson in Doncaster child scandal

Key failings of social services

Police chief defends force over earlier attack

Chief apologises over Edlington case failings

Doncaster council's troubled record

Future to focus on rehabilitation

Doncaster torture boys were well known as violent troublemakers

Repeating the same mistakes

Whenever the government wants to show its commitment to addressing an issue that has the public up in arms, it moves swiftly to set up a unit.

Social exclusion, antisocial behaviour and teenage pregnancy, to name a few, have all had units set up in their honour. So it was inevitable that the public outcry over the death of Baby P, followed by the usual flurry of political activity, would, once the dust had begun to settle on Lord Laming's report, result in the establishment of a unit ...

Barnardo's former chief executive Roger Singleton, who was appointed the first chief adviser on the safety of children in April, will spend two days a week overseeing the unit's work, although someone else will be appointed later in the year to run it day to day.

In a career working with children that spans more than 40 years, and which was recognised with a knighthood in 2005, Singleton has witnessed the predictable aftermath of dozens of child deaths. "There has been a depressingly familiar pattern about the reaction to child deaths," Singleton says. "A child is killed by their parents or carers, there is public outrage, there is a major inquiry followed by a significant overhaul of the system and legislative and organisational restructuring. Then, when that's done, we enter a period of quiet.

"Anybody, including members of the tabloid media, is entitled to ask 'well, what is different this time?'."

Singleton hopes the unit will make Laming's recommendations "a reality, not just something for the birds", expressing his gratitude that there will be no radical organisational or legislative change this time round.

Fear of bureaucracy

In this respect, he shares the views of many professionals working with children, who have grappled with numerous changes since the publication in 2003 of the report into the death of Victoria Climbié.

Nonetheless, there is understandable nervousness that the National Safeguarding Delivery Unit may increase bureaucracy and the micro-management of councils, and that it may represent another raft of bureaucracy in the system, resulting in yet more demands from central government for information ...

communitycare.co.uk

'Repeating the same mistakes'

Doctors at a clinic that failed to spot a broken back in Baby Peter two days before he died were under an "excessive workload", a report has said ...

Dr Kim Holt, who warned about the way the clinic was run in 2006, said the 17-month-old baby could have been saved if managers had listened to her ... (she) ... had warned the clinic's appointment system was "chaotic".

She was one of four who wrote a letter detailing problems at the hospital's clinic a year before the failed diagnosis.

They warned the clinic - run by Haringey Primary Care Trust and manned by Great Ormond Street Hospital doctors - was understaffed ...

The report's authors described the workload of consultants at the clinic between 2006 and May 2008 as "excessive" and said the consequences of cutting a consultant post "were not adequately considered" by management ...

The British Medical Association is supporting Dr Holt's claim to be reinstated to her original post ...

BBC NEWS  08 Dec 2009

Communication problems cited in Baby P report

Newly disclosed court documents suggest Ofsted inspectors who wrote a damning report on Haringey children's services were ordered to delete emails relating to Baby Peter and the council, a high court judge disclosed today.

Mr Justice Foskett demanded an urgent explanation of a handwritten note found among hundreds of pages of evidence handed in by the watchdog at the 11th hour of its legal battle with the sacked children's services director Sharon Shoesmith. Shoesmith this week launched fresh legal proceedings against Haringey, Ofsted and the children's secretary, Ed Balls, under the Human Rights Act, seeking damages of more than £300,000.

"If anything like this was said and/or acted upon it could potentially raise a number of serious issues," the judge said.

The note seemed to suggest that officials sent in to the north London borough were told at a meeting soon after they began the task to delete "from the system" emails relating to "Baby P or Haringey".

"This is a matter that, in the context of this case, requires a full and proper response ... doubtless they will regard it is something to be addressed urgently," the judge said ...

Guardian  01 Decmber 2009

A woman who died inside her burning car with her disabled daughter would sit in the dark listening to the gang that tormented them, an inquest heard.

Fiona Pilkington, 38, of Barwell, Leicestershire, set fire to her car as she and 18-year-old Francesca Hardwick sat inside in October 2007.

The single mother detailed her ordeal in a diary, found after her death.

One entry read: "Drew the curtains and sat in the dark until 2.30am, stressed out."

Despite police requests, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council had no record of the problems, the hearing was told.

Council officer Tim Butterworth, who was responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour, said he had "no concerns" with the situation ...

BBC NEWS  24 September 2009

Police quizzed over abuse deaths

The Fearless Coroner

Police guard Simmons family

Do we really need to remind the police what crime is?

12 years of torment

Crocodile tears at Leicestershire police

12 years of torment

Johnson attacks police over suicide mother

Anti-social behaviour 'not police job'

Why we avoid charging youths, by inquest police

Incident diary reveals tragic mum's torment

Police dismissed car blaze mother's cries for help as 'over-reaction'

Problem family still menacing street

Car death pair 'abused for years'

Social work training is unfit for purpose, according to a damning report by MPs out today. The Commons select committee for children, schools and families warns that children's lives are being put at risk because social workers are not being prepared adequately for the challenges they face.

The root cause lies in sub-standard degree courses. The report cited evidence "from several quarters" that the degree is too easy to pass, while some social work courses have a reputation for being hard to fail.

Children's charity the NSPCC told the committee that its practice teachers had on occasion come under pressure to pass students whom they felt should not be allowed to proceed further.

Urging an investigation into whether the funding arrangements for degree courses act as a perverse incentive to pass unsuitable students, the committee says: "It is unacceptable that social work courses, or any element of them, should have a reputation for being 'difficult to fail'."

The committee's verdict comes 24 hours after an interim report from the government's social work taskforce outlined plans to overhaul the training and leadership of the profession in the wake of the Baby P affair.

While the MPs welcome the prospect of radical reforms, they say they are concerned that a "plethora" of other new initiatives has been announced and set in train by ministers before the taskforce has concluded its work. "It is not clear how these initiatives fit together with each other, or with existing structures," the report says ...

The report also criticises the entry requirements for degrees. In 2006-07, almost half the students admitted to courses had fewer than 240 Ucas points (three grade Cs or equivalent at A-level), compared to fewer than a quarter of entrants to comparable teaching or nursing degrees. The Joint Universities Council has reported complaints from some employers about standards of literacy among social work graduates ...

Guardian  30 July 2009

One child a week is being murdered in Britain, in cases which echo the horrific death of Baby Peter, because clear warning signs that they live with a potential killer are being ignored or go unreported by key public service workers from police officers to GPs, according to new figures.

An in-depth analysis of the records relating to the deaths of 163 children killed at the hands of a parent or carer in the last five years has shown that thousands of children from babies to 16 are "slipping through the net" of protection measures despite the knowledge that they live in households with a history of domestic abuse, drug problems or where there has been a recent separation – all factors which dramatically increase the risk of murder.

The study shows for the first time the dramatic rise in the number of child homicides over a five-year period, with the number of killings doubling from 28 in 2004 to 56 in 2007, the year when Baby Peter was killed by his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger. He sustained more than 50 injuries, including a broken back and ribs, which were not spotted despite 60 visits by social workers ...

Lynn Ferguson, the investigative reporter who led the research, said: "It is simply a scandal that we have a situation where the vast majority of these children are being killed despite the presence of very clear warning signals, in particular with domestic violence. There are 300,000 children in this country who live with serious domestic violence in their home and they are being allowed to slip through the net, despite the fact that it has been recognised as a significant risk factor for many years.

"Our social work system is so over-stretched that risk assessments of children in these situations are simply not carried out. We don't need a full protection plan in all these cases but there is clearly a need for better monitoring."

The Independent 10 July 2009

Social services ignored pleas of family

Council chiefs in Manchester admitted that chances were missed to intervene in the care of Demi Leigh Mahon, after a serious case review found that the concerns of relatives and neighbours were not followed up properly.

She was living with her drug-addicted mother, Ann Marie McDonald, and died after she left him in the care of a 15-year-old friend.

Karl McCluney beat her to death in a 90-minute attack at a house in Salford while her mother went to claim a child benefit cheque in July last year.

The child's father, Gary Mahon, and grandmother, Frances Gillon, said they telephoned the council several times about their concerns over her welfare - but did not hear anything back.

Mrs Gillon said the last time she called was three weeks before Demi Leigh's death.

"I contacted the out-of-hours emergency line, they said they would get a message through and get back to us," she said.

"The next thing we knew we were in hospital with Demi.

"There has been no communication. It is a disgusting failure by social services."

The serious case review said the mother had been known to police for some time before becoming pregnant with Demi, that she was convicted of drug offences last year and took an overdose. All these facts were known to social services but not acted upon.

The review says: "There were a number of times when the Children's Services should have started a child protection investigation but did not."

The council also took phone calls from neighbours and family members concerned that the girl was being left with a number of different carers and that she was crying a lot when in the flat, which was feared to have turned into a "drugs den".

Social workers knew the family but a protection plan was not set up.

Gill Rigg, chair of Salford Safeguarding Children's Board, said the death was unpredictable and therefore unavoidable but there were a "whole range of issues that needed to be significantly improved".

Gill Baker, of Salford Children Services, said: "I am desperately sorry that we did not put better services in place for her [Demi Leigh].

"It is clear from the review no matter how well we co-ordinated our plans the tragedy that resulted in this child's death was unavoidable.

"But that doesn't take away anything from the fact that our services should have been better.

"There should have been a better response and people involved should have taken things more seriously."

Telegraph 27 June 2009

Agencies admit Demi Leigh errors

Teenage babysitter murdered two-year-old girl

Not in the dock: the "Soviet Tractor Factory" management of the public sector as run by Whitehall-centred, and target-driven styles of management which began with Margaret - 'no such thing as society' - Thatcher thirty years ago this month.    [STF]

Google the so-called Childrens Trust scheme of child, er, 'protection' and you will be confronted with a torrent of New Labour-style bureaucratic dystopia from which it emerges that everyone is expected to liaise with everyone else, but no one's actually in charge.

As Steve Richards argued in respect of the G20 demo fiascos, where no one is in charge, no one is accountable.    [SR]

Also not in the dock, was that emblem of stalinist centrism: OFSTED.

This is the bunch of buffoons whose inspections are so ineffectual that they gave Haringey a three star report - after Baby Peter's death - and then went into a fit of shock-horror when it emerged that they had been misled.

It seems Ofsted hadn't though it necessary to "take the files off the shelves" and actually do a bit of first hand research.    [IND]

Also, and of greater impact, Ofsted ran a two-years-and-you're-off-the-books target which, it should be obvious to anyone with any common sense, distorts priorities.

But it's what you get when New Labour make incestious appointments.

Finally, there are all the it-must-never-happen-again reports which we get with such regularity after a tragedy like this.

The response of the likes of Ed Balls to such reports is to tighten the centrist screw with yet more bureaucracy.

Guardian 23 May 2009

A catalogue of failings by the NHS meant a series of opportunities that could have saved Baby P's life were missed, the health regulator says.

The toddler - now named as Peter - from Haringey, London, had been seen by health services 35 times by the time he died after horrific abuse in 2007.

Two doctors involved in his care have already been suspended.

But the Care Quality Commission said Haringey's services were poor, leading to an apology from NHS trusts involved.

Baby Peter had suffered more than 50 injuries by the time of his death in August 2007, aged 17 months.

The catalogue of abuse he suffered emerged during a court hearing at the end of last year that led to the conviction of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger for causing his death ...

The 35 contacts with the NHS covered visits to a GP, health visitors, consultant paediatricians, hospitals and walk-in centres.

The regulator criticised three trusts in particular - Haringey, which was responsible for the community services, North Middlesex Hospital and the specialist children's hospital Great Ormond Street, which provided the paediatric staff for both the local trusts.

It said system failure meant medical records were not shared between different health services and NHS workers did not properly alert social services and police to their concerns ...

Staff shortages and delays in assessments were also noted ...

... the CQC pointed out that staff did not follow protocols when they were in place.

Bone and skeleton scans were not always carried out to give a clear picture of Peter's injuries.

The report said the consultant who saw Peter two days before his death and noted bruises and marks over his body did not alert a social worker ...

THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

• Six recorded visits to hospital, two of which were to an A&E unit
• GP saw Peter 14 times, the last of which was a week before his death. The doctor is under investigation
• One visit to a specialist health service. Paediatrician now suspended
• Five visits made to Peter at home by health visitors
• Two recorded visits to walk-in centres
• Other contacts include mental health workers and parenting counselling service

BBC NEWS 13 May 2009

Lord Laming calls for earlier action

Lord Laming, who chaired the public inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie and carried out an inquiry into the role of social services in England after the death of Baby P, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that in cases where children were at considerable risk there needed to early, decisive intervention by the authorities.

"Drift is the enemy of good practice," he said. "We certainly ought to be looking seriously at making a much more effective assessment at an early stage of the unease, setting a case plan of action for the parents, making sure these are addressed within reasonable timescales and – if the parents do not demonstrate sufficient child skills despite the help we can provide – then the matter should be taken to court.

"I believe the State should become a responsible and effective parent to more children. That doesn't mean children have got to be snatched away – I don't mean that for one moment. Let's not go from one extreme to the other. But there has been a reluctance from some authorities to bring these cases in front of the court."

Lord Laming said that sound regulations and guidelines now existed to protect children. "The real challenge is to get it all off the paper and into standard practice at the front door of every agency."

He said that it was worth reflecting that last year some 55 children were killed in the UK by a relative or a member of the extended family. "We really need to do better, especially for the children who have been identified as living in circumstances where the risk factors are very high."

Lord Laming is concerned that in some local authorities almost 50 per cent of their "front-line staff" have less than two years experience in the job, yet they were given some incredibly difficult and demanding cases.

He said: "This is unacceptable. It can be addressed. I believe that we have in place the possibility of a really first-class service, but we have to address the practice issues." ...

Telegraph 02 May 2009

Red tape is putting children at risk

Rape by Baby P man sparks inquiry

Baby P's carers 'lacked urgency'

An attempt to cover up the full horror of the death of Baby P was exposed last night after a secret report on the blunders that caused the tragedy was leaked to The Mail on Sunday.

The report shows how the true scale of incompetence by the authorities - and the appalling injuries suffered by the little boy - were censored by the disgraced social services chief blamed for the tragedy, with the full backing of the Government.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has refused pleas to publish full details of the Serious Case Review of Baby P's death in August 2007.

But The Mail on Sunday has learned that it shows:

• A vital legal meeting that failed to decide to take the child out of his home days before he died had been delayed for six weeks because of 'workload pressures' - and was a shambles when it took place.
• It was agreed there were legal grounds for issuing an 'interim care order' to withdraw the child six months before he died - but nothing was done.
• Instructions not to let the child return home until dogs had been removed from the house were ignored.
• Police were accused of letting their investigation into child abuse claims 'drift'.
• Social workers did not believe the mother had a live-in lover - even though she announced she was pregnant in a parenting class that they told her to attend.
• A doctor who failed to notice Baby P had a broken back believed the boy had been sent for treatment because of his 'behaviour' - not child abuse.
• When the police officer in charge of the case changed, the new officer was not told of Baby P's background.
• Health, welfare and legal experts missed vital meetings to discuss the child's welfare.

Mail on Sunday 15 March 2009

Review of Baby P's death leaked

The child protection reforms needed to help prevent tragedies like the deaths of Baby P and Victoria Climbie already exist but must be put into practice, a report said today.

Lord Laming sent a clear message to all the professionals involved in looking after vulnerable children: "Now just do it" ...

Reporting today, he said child protection had not been given the priority it deserved in the years since the Government introduced its Every Child Matters policy in 2004.

Lord Laming criticised failings in information sharing between agencies, poor training and support given to overstretched frontline staff and the bureaucracy hampering social workers ...

He said there was concern that quality social work was being put in danger by an "over emphasis on process and targets", singling out computer systems which were "hampering progress".

Social workers' professional practice and judgment are being compromised by an "over-complicated, lengthy and tick-box assessment and recording system", he said ...

Other key findings of Lord Laming's review included:

* There remain "significant problems" in working between different child protection agencies. Too often this happens "despite, rather than because of, the organisational arrangements".

* The poor quality of training and support for "often overstretched" frontline staff in social services, healthcare and the police is "undermining" attempts to protect children.

* Social services departments suffer from "low staff morale, poor supervision, high caseloads, under-resourcing and inadequate training", contributing to high stress levels and recruitment problems. Child protection social work in particular is felt to be a "Cinderella service".

* Some police forces have reduced resources for child protection teams, and vacancy rates are too high.

* The number of health visitors has fallen 10 per cent in the last three years and their case loads are significantly higher than the recommended level ...

The Independent 12 March 2009

Complacent managers and demoralised social workers

Reaction: child protection report

Childcare team 'seriously weak'

Social services failing to implement Climbie refoms