Report reveals Haringey Council's 'limited' progress in child protection following Baby P's death (From Haringey Independent)

Report reveals Haringey Council's 'limited' progress in child protection following Baby P's death

2:53pm Friday 3rd July 2009

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ONLY ‘limited progress’ has been by Haringey Council to protect children over the last six months, says an Ofsted report published today.

The report reveals that despite new staff being brought in and best practice procedures being implemented following Baby P’s death, the council is still struggling to bring its department to a satisfactory standard.

The head of the children's services in Haringey was sacked, as were a social worker and three managers and the council has introduced a children’s trust to help protect children. It meets six times a year and is made up the chair of the local safeguarding children’s board, councillors, council directors, health professionals and teachers.

Inspectors said: “The council has made limited progress in improving the quality of social work practice, supporting and assuring decision making and in developing case recording and tracking processes.

“Despite persistent and concerted action, significant shortcomings in staffing and in the capability of some managers and social workers have restricted the rate of progress and children and young people are not yet consistently safeguarded.”

The report did noted good progress has been made to clear a backlog of cases but identified a number of serious concerns including “a lack of competence and confidence in decision-making” when making referrals to children’s services.

Staff were seen to be communicating more openly with senior management and with other agencies which was a positive outcome, inspectors said. One of the major failings that led to Baby Peter’s death was poor information-sharing between colleagues.

Councillor Robert Gorrie, leader of Haringey’s Liberal Democrats, said: “The council has made only limited progress in addressing the areas of weakness and worryingly the capacity to improve is reported as limited. This is an unacceptable situation.

“The inspection shows Haringey's Children's Services was in a significantly worse state at the beginning of this year than council leaders previously understood or admitted. The most urgent question is when the public will have the confidence that children in Haringey are being safeguarded properly.”

The opposition leader added: “While the Ofsted report rightly recognises the efforts by staff to improve the safeguarding of children in Haringey the central message of the report is much less reassuring.”

Ofsted also pointed out there was a consistent problem with staffing vacancies.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls has said he wants another report by January.

Baby P, now known as Peter, died in August 2007, aged 17 months, having suffered a catalogue of more than 50 injuries, despite being on Haringey's at-risk register.

Peter's 27-year-old mother was given an indefinite sentence with a minimum term of five years at the Old Bailey in May after pleading guilty to causing or allowing her son's death.

Her boyfriend, aged 32, was given a 12-year sentence for his role in Peter's death. He was also jailed for life with a minimum term of ten years for the rape of a two-year-old girl. He is appealing.

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