Baby P: Ed Balls Statement In Full And Sun’s Failed Campaign
And I am pleased that both the Health Secretary and Police Minister Vernon Coaker are also making it clear today that the Healthcare Commission and the Metropolitan Police will co-operate fully with the new Serious Case Review into the death of Baby P.
With these immediate leadership and management changes; with the full implementation of all of the inspectors’ recommendations; and with the new Serious Case review; I believe that we can now address the deep-rooted and fundamental failings that have been identified in the tragic case of Baby P and more widely in Haringey.
When I met with the Chief Inspector this morning, she told me that in her judgement the failings in management, oversight and practice identified by the Inspectors’ report in Haringey are “exceptional”.
But this is no reason for complacency. As I told the House of Commons in my statement of 20 November, there is more we must do now and in the coming months to ensure that child protection arrangements are effective everywhere.
It is now just over five years since we published Every Child Matters in response to the Victoria Climbié Inquiry, chaired by Lord Laming. And while Lord Laming himself and the Joint Chief Inspectors in their report to me in July have said these reforms have significantly strengthened the framework for safeguarding children, there is still much work to do to ensure these reforms are being implemented robustly in every area.
Ofsted is today publishing its first evaluation of Serious Case Reviews, which highlights that there is variable quality across the country in conducting these Serious Case Reviews.
And Lord Laming has today written to me with a progress report and to set out his initial recommendations to strengthen the Serious Case Review process, including that all Serious Case Reviews are from now on independently chaired. Lord Laming will set out more details in his February report. But I want to take further action today.
So I am asking each Local Safeguarding Children Board responsible for a Serious Case Review which has been judged inadequate to convene a panel to be chaired by an independent person to reconsider the review.
I will ask Ofsted’s advice on whether that report satisfactorily addresses the issues rated as inadequate. And this same process will be used for any future Serious Case Reviews that Ofsted assesses to be inadequate.
Ofsted has also decided that each year they will undertake an unannounced inspection visit of safeguarding practice in every area of the country. And where areas have had more than one inadequate Serious Case Review, I will consider whether further action is needed.
I have today written to every Director of Children’s Services and Lead Member for Children’s Services in the country, enclosing a copy of the Haringey Inspectors’ report, to ensure that they are examining their own safeguarding arrangements.
I have also today accepted all of the safeguarding recommendations in the Joint Chief Inspectors’ report and published the government’s response.
In his letter, Lord Laming also raises the question of a public inquiry into Haringey Children’s Services. He says that he has been “struck by the robustness of the foundation on which current children’s services are based.”
He sets out his view that a public inquiry into the services in Haringey would set back the progress that has been made in many places and divert effort from the actions needed now to keep children safe in Haringey. I agree with this judgement.
For now, our priorities must be to:
- put in place the leadership and management team in Haringey children’s services that can ensure that vulnerable children in the borough are properly protected;
- appoint a new independent chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board to begin a new Serious Case Review into the death of Baby P;
- and ensure that action has been taken across the country in response to those Serious Case Reviews that have been judged to be inadequate.
That is what I have done today. Nothing we do now can take away the terrible suffering that was inflicted on Baby P during his short life. The sad fact is that, as the Inspectors report makes clear:
“Baby P had been subject to a child protection plan from 22 December 2006, following concerns that he had been abused and neglected. He was still subject to this plan when he died.”
That is the most serious failing of all. We will not rest until we have the very best child protection arrangements in place in Haringey and across our country.
Posted: 1st, December 2008 | In: Key Posts, Politicians Comments (13) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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December 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Is everyone missing the point of who is to blame for Baby P’s death - the parent ***edit***! The social workers, doctors and police did not kill this child. Yes they were negligent in their enquiries and perhaps more training is needed but to have them sacked for an error, i don’t wish to underestimate the severity of losing a human life. Why are the professionals being blamed. There is a huge shortage of social workers who are overworked and stressed. The salary isn’t particularly brilliant to cope with the stresses they take on, yet we wish to sack them so that the parents never do this again??? Can we ensure that the parents are named and shamed and dealt with accordingly. Money needs to be put into educating and training more social workers to cope with the demands of our evil society. There will be more deaths as there are more and more sick adults who feel that its ok to kill their children and yet they don’t seem to be held responsible. Who really should be educated here? The parent - do we now blame education for letting them down? Where does it stop? Why blame, can we not just do something positive about it.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
The Baby P episode, as horrible as it is, is just one more error in a catalogue of disasters under this inept Government.
Sharon Shoesmith has rightly been suspended, also could there be a case for her to be prosecuted? Especially when one dwells on the nightmare and horrors that Baby P had to go through, due, no doubt, to the failures of Jaqui Smith and her cronies to spot what was going on.
We can only hope that that Gordon Brown, who incidentally, should go back to Scotland where he belongs, takes some drastic action and perhaps redeem some of the Labour Party’s atrocious record, although I and thousands of others doubt this very much. One would also hope the salaries of those guilty persons should go to children’s charities where it could go a long way to perhaps alleviating more suffering.
CJ
December 1st, 2008 at 8:06 pm
There was one whistle blower , and she got shouted down
December 1st, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Well if nothing else it’s given us another question; we are all used to ‘who watches the watchers?’ but what we need to know is ‘who reviews the reviewers?’.
I would perfectly happily see the editorial staff of the Sun tossed off the top of Canary Wharf, but the Serious Case Review carried out by Haringey was abysmally flawed.
If Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and the Chief Inspector of Constabulary hadn’t been called in, we would still be being told that it was all very sad but there was nothing which could have been done about it.
That clearly wasn’t true; safguarding in Haringey, and possibly a lot of other places as well, ‘needs urgent and sustained attention.’
It won’t get urgent and sustained attention if no-one knows it needs it.
However tainted the motives of the Sun, it can reasonably claim that, without the media coverage, there would have been no critical appraisal of what went wrong…
December 1st, 2008 at 7:57 pm
the lower echelons may be heaving sighs of relief, and perhaps ready for promotion? not only that if they have been working under the duress of bad management better people might emerge.
December 1st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
and who on earth would ever want to work in Haringey to plug the gaps? or any other lousy catchement area come to that. I know I wouldn’t.
December 1st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
If everyone is sacked, then what? A chasm… The Sun is going to f*** it up
December 1st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Cool and Calm
The report seems to be heavily critical of the management, which is something of an advance; whether it will be carried through into senior people actually taking on responsibility for junior staff is another matter…
December 1st, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Spot on June. fingers crossed.
I’m happy that the people at the top are having to take responsibilty instead of the individual Social Workers who had little or no supervision and huge unmanageable case-loads.
Like the Social Worker who had to carry the can for Victoria Climbie,
However, I’m sure the Sun disagrees and will hound them as infinitem coz that’s what they do best.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Well, according to the Evening Standard:
‘Two top councillors at Haringey fell on their swords today’
Funny, I could have sworn they were pushed…
December 1st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Perhaps the focus of the ‘targets’ will move now from paperwork etc to where it should be on vulnerable people
December 1st, 2008 at 5:07 pm
The Sun will undoubtedly claim that, were it not for the Sun, Haringay would have carried on in its own inimitable way, and battalions of children would have been slaughtered to appease the requirements of breaking news and reality tv.
The really nasty bit is that the Serious Case Review was so abysmally badly done that every other Serious Care Review in the country is put in doubt; I wonder what’s happening everywhere else?
December 1st, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Will the Sun let it lie?