BBC social work film prompts calls for early police support
Strong partnerships between social workers and other agencies are integral throughout any child protection case, two experts have warned following a BBC documentary about a social work team in Bristol.
Mark Williams-Thomas, child protection expert at Birmingham City University and Dr Liz Davies, reader in child protection at London Metropolitan University, said the BBC2 programme highlighted a lack of input from police child protection officers, despite early warning signs about the welfare of the child involved.
The pair praised Bristol’s children’s services department for giving access to their child protection team, but said the documentary had highlighted the need for the input of other agencies in the development of an immediate child protection plan.
In an article seen exclusively by CYP Now, Williams-Thomas and Davies said: “From the beginning this case should have gained the response of a professional strategy meeting with the police child abuse investigation team and other agencies enabling the implementation of an immediate protection plan.
“[…] It is not commonly known that 30 per cent of child deaths from abuse are from neglect and also neglect must be notified to the police because it is actually a crime under the 1933 Children and Young Person’s Act.
“Although prosecution would have been unlikely, and in fact would have been unhelpful, the police could have removed Toby [the child] under police powers of protection for 72 hours to a safe environment to allow some initial inquires and background checks to be made.”
Instead the academics state that Toby was left in a potentially dangerous position while social workers established a relationship with the parents, instead of being immediately protected.
But the article adds: “This was a brave venture into the murky and complex world of protecting children, but procedure and policies exist to enable speedy protective action when it is needed.”
CYP Now is awaiting comment from Bristol council.
