Lynne Featherstone

My comments about Haringey Council’s habit of trying to turn its back on proper scrutiny of its actions seem to have caught a bit of media attention, as with The London Paper:

HARINGEY Council needs to shake up the way it scrutinises its own work in the wake of the Baby P tragedy, an MP has said.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, accused ruling Labour councillors of “scrutiny-phobia” after they refused to hand over the chair of a key watchdog committee to the opposition.

She said: “Scrutiny-phobia in Haringey has led to a culture where it was impossible for whistleblowers to raise the alarm. I am saddened that Haringey Labour has missed an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and to put its watchdog committee on a better footing to do what it is supposed to.”…

Opposition leader Robert Gorrie said the decision “does not bode well for the future of Children’s Services in Haringey.

“More rigorous and more independent scrutiny might have uncovered the severe failings in children’s services before it was too late.

“Haringey Council needs a watchdog committee with teeth to prevent inadequacies in services being missed again.”