Faith in Dundee’s child protection work restored

A NEW report into Dundee’s child protection services has concluded the public can now have “much higher” confidence in the system following a raft of improvements in the wake of the Brandon Muir scandal.

Independent assessor Professor Peter Wilson last night said the standard of child protection work carried out by Dundee City Council, Tayside Police and NHS Tayside had risen significantly in recent months.

He was initially drafted in last year to give an independent assessment of the findings of a Significant Case Review (SCR) into the killing of Dundee toddler Brandon Muir in March 2008.

The 23-month-old died at the hands of Robert Cunningham, the violent boyfriend of his mother Heather Boyd.

Professor Wilson’s independent review was released alongside the SCR in August and he returned to Dundee last month for a follow-up inspection to determine if progress had been made.

The new report states there has been significant improvement in child protection services and specifically highlights advances in leadership, information sharing and the role of community nursing staff.

Professor Wilson, a former chief constable of Fife, said work to improve standards had been “considerable” and there had been an obvious boost in staff morale and confidence about their individual roles.

He said the commitment to addressing the issues raised in his previous report and the SCR was “clear” and the allocation of new resources to child protection had helped to reduce pressures on the system.

In concluding his follow-up report, he said, “My independent assessment of the developments that have taken place under the direction of the Chief Officers’ Group, and the leadership of the CYPPC (Children and Young Persons Protection Committee) chair, is that the work has been considerable and the impact on both the organisational processes and the staff can be sensed in the mood of the workforce, and in their self confidence about their roles.

“The ‘coming together’ in sharing a common vision and commitment has led to the introduction of new practices and approaches which will be the subject of learning for other child protection partnerships.

“While it is impossible to extrapolate the analysis of the improvements into a guarantee that children in Dundee will not come to harm in the future, I am confident in stating that children and vulnerable families can have a much higher degree of confidence in the provision of child protection services in the city.”

Professor Wilson’s report reflects the findings of education inspectors earlier this year who saw significant strengthening of the leadership and direction of child protection services in the city.

Alan Baird, the committee’s chairman and Dundee City Council’s director of social work, welcomed the new report and said local child protection agencies strove for constant improvement.

He said, “We were determined to learn as much as we could and that is why we commissioned this independent review on top of the statutory Significant Case Review.

“We acknowledged that changes needed to be made and our efforts have been focused on improving areas such as joint working and sharing information.

“All of the agencies involved in protecting vulnerable children have made progress as indicated in the report but we are not complacent and we will be looking to continue this improvement.”

The findings of the follow-up report will be presented to all of Dundee’s 29 elected members at next week’s policy and resources committee.

Council leader Ken Guild said last night, “Substantial progress has clearly been made to improve joint arrangements for child protection in Dundee. The city council has provided additional resources to help fund these improvements including an extra £500,000 in the budget specifically for child protection.

“The recommendations made by Professor Wilson have been followed through by the child protection committee but we need to make sure that we continue to review and improve our services on an ongoing basis and that these are reported to the city council.”

Social work convener Councillor Jim Barrie said, “Social workers involved in child protection have one of the most difficult jobs in this field. They are dedicated professionals who need continued support to carry out this very challenging work.”

Tayside Police Deputy Chief Constable Bill Harkins said, “It (the report) recognises the improvements in services that staff across the agencies have been responsible for achieving, through a determination to protect our children and young people and keep them safe from harm.

“We cannot and will not be complacent and as chief officers we are resolved to work together toward the vision for children’s services.”

Caroline Selkirk, NHS Tayside commissioner for child health, said Prof Wilson’s report proved that benefits were being reaped from putting more resources into the system.

She said, “All of the agencies involved in child protection in Dundee have made a significant investment into frontline staff and, just as importantly, a continuing commitment to making sure these members of staff are supported.

“We are not complacent, however. We will keep striving to move forwards to reinforce partnership working and ensure we continue to make the difference to child protection in the city.”

Scottish minister for children and early years Adam Ingram said several of the recommendations made in Prof Wilson’s original report had been accepted by the Scottish Government and were being rolled out nationwide.

He said SCRs were one of the main issues highlighted and the government would be setting out its plans for improving what was an “important tool for child protection” over the summer.

Mr Ingram said, “The report echoes the conclusions of the HMIE follow-through inspection for the city and demonstrates the value of a strong inspection and review system in helping to drive up child protection standards across the country.”