Under the glare of that spotlight and furore a litany of failures by individuals and agencies involved in child protection in Haringey was revealed. Some new key people were brought into post. But will the culture change – that attitude of cover up and defend?
I was Leader of the Opposition on Haringey Council when Victoria Climbie died. And I was promised, by the Labour administration, that ‘lessons would be learned’ and that this ‘must never happen again’. But it did happen again – and Baby Peter died a horrible death just eight years later – because nothing had really changed. Despite the promises and the breast beating, Haringey’s culture of secrecy, cover-up and defensiveness continued untrammelled until the spotlight was suddenly back again after Baby Peter’s death.
Under the glare of that spotlight and furore a litany of failures by individuals and agencies involved in child protection in Haringey was revealed. Some individuals lost their jobs. Some new key people were brought into post. But much remains still to be done:
“Dozens of vulnerable children are going missing from care in Haringey putting them at risk of sexual exploitation and gangs” - Ham and High, June 2012
And will we ever see the publication of key documents, reduced caseloads for social workers and an end to the manic and destructive tick box culture that removes personal responsibility and lets critical faculties and instincts wither?
The fight to improve child protection must continue.
More news
- Nevres Kemal was a whistle blower who warned that Haringey Social Services were failing in their child protection practises. In fact, she had come to me about her concerns at one point, and I had taken her case together with two others (privately to avoid publicity or politics) to the then Leader of Haringey Council, [...] read on
- Today is 10 years since Victoria Climbie died. As Leader of the Opposition in Haringey I remember the beating of breasts by the then Labour leader of the Council about how lessons would be learned and how this must never happen again. And then it did. Eight years later – Baby Peter died another dreadful [...] read on
- The second inspection of Haringey’s Children’s Service has now reported. Last time they found that Haringey was not improving fast enough. This time – the report finds that they have done better. Given the staff are working very hard to improve things and there is a new Director – I would hope that this is [...] read on
- I was asked by London Tonight which was more shocking – the fact that there was another child, who experienced similar failures by Haringey Children’s Services as Baby Peter – albeit this time thank goodness not ending in a death – or the fact this had only just come to light – four years after [...] read on
- I received an update from the Information Commissioner on progress (or not) on my request for the Serious Case Review (the document compiled immediately after Baby Peter’s death) to be published. Subject: Information Commissioner’s Office[Ref. FS50234513] Dear Ms Featherstone, Re: Freedom of Information Act 2000 Complaint about the London Borough of Haringey – FS50234513 As [...] read on
- Kim Holt has finally broken cover over the health team’s part in the Baby Peter tragedy with an interview in the Sunday Telegraph with Andrew Gilligan. Who is Kim? She is (or rather was) a senior paediatric consultant in Haringey’s child protection health team. Kim first came to me (over a year ago), terrified to [...] read on
- Following on from my recent post on who inspects the inspectors, I raised the issue in Business Questions in the Commons. The point I made was that with OFSTED giving 3 stars to Haringey just before the Baby Peter tragic story broke – and giving them 1 star soon after – we needed a debate [...] read on
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