Brandon child protection boss warns against ‘overreaction’

The social work chief who was in charge of children’s services in Dundee when toddler Brandon Muir died has warned against an “overreaction” to high-profile child abuse cases.

Fred McBride, now social work director in Aberdeen, said the public and professional response to the deaths of Brandon Muir and Baby P could prove “harmful” as child protection services throughout the country become swamped by referrals.

The Press and Journal last month revealed a huge increase in the number of youngsters being referred to social workers in the north and north-east in the wake of widely publicised child abuse cases.

Speaking yesterday, Mr McBride welcomed the heightened public awareness of child protection issues but warned of the pitfalls.

“We’ve got more kids in public care than we’ve ever had and we’ve got more kids in child protection than ever before, all over the country,” he said.

“Are we really saying Scotland is a much more dangerous country than it was before? I don’t think so.

“There is something about people being more aware of children’s needs and child abuse, which is a good thing, people taking responsibility.

“But there’s also a bit of professional anxiety around.

“That kind of professional anxiety is understandable, but there’s a danger that there is an overreaction which can be as harmful as an under-reaction because social work services get bogged down.”

Mr McBride joined Aberdeen City Council this summer, having been head since 2005 of children’s services in Dundee, where he ordered an independent inquiry into 23-month-old Brandon’s death.

He also responded to calls for a national inquiry into child protection services in Scotland and moves to take more youngsters into care.

“The way ahead is absolutely to ensure social workers and others are protecting children,” he said.

“But if we start putting more children into care than we are currently doing, there’s a real danger with that. You can throw millions of pounds at it, but if you don’t get foster parents are we really going to go back to children’s homes?

“That’s going back 40 years. God forbid, it’s almost like going back to the days of orphanages.”

Labour children’s spokes-woman Karen Whitefield MSP responded to the comments.

“One child in Scotland having their life put in danger, risk or neglect is one child too many,” she said.

“I don’t think that just because our care system isn’t perfect and has failed in the past, it means that it isn’t sometimes right to take children out of a situation where they have been abused.

“It doesn’t have to be the institutionalised care of 40 or 50 years ago.”