Councils blast Laming report “missed opportunity”

Council leaders have criticised the Laming review into the death of Baby P for not going far enough to protect vulnerable children.

The Local Government Association (LGA), the Association of Director’s of Children’s Services and the Association of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE) and London Councils all signed a letter raising five of areas of continuing concern in response to last month’s report.

Lord Laming led the enquiry into the death of the unnamed child, known only as Baby P, who died in north London after suffering months of abuse. He had been seen by social services on a number of occasions and concerns were apparently raised for his welfare but were never followed through. The report set out 58 recommendations to stop similar mistakes being made in the future.

But the letter identifies several key issues which the signatory bodies believe the Laming report failed to address. They include the failure of bodies like schools and the NHS to refer vulnerable children, the simplistic approach to Ofsted’s inspections of child services, the lack of proper costing for the measures the report recommends and the unrealistic raising of public expectations that every child should be saved in every circumstance.

Caroline Tapster, of SOLACE, said: “There is a missed opportunity in Lord Laming’s review, to open up the debate about the importance of parents, families and the wider community in creating safe and positive places for children to live and flourish.

“Councils, social services staff and the emergency services are only part of the answer to protecting children from harm.

“Parents, families, neighbours and people living in the wider community can make a life-saving difference if they observe danger signs and act on them in the appropriate way. Keeping children safe from abuse is everybody’s business.”

Councillor Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, added: “There is no excuse for poor performance in this area. It must be our ambition to reduce the number of children who suffer and die in this country as the result of neglect and abuse, often by those closest to them. Councils cannot do this difficult work alone.”