Shambolic
protection system is still failing children, say experts
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
Telegraph
- 14th July 2005
Hundreds
of youngsters are still being failed by the child protection system
because it is inconsistent, unco-ordinated and understaffed, says
a report today from eight independent government inspectorates.
The report,
which follows the inquiries into the death of Victoria Climbie and
the Soham murders, will be a major embarrassment to ministers who
say children's welfare has improved.
According
to the report, the sharing of information between the police, the
NHS and social services is shambolic.
Councils
are sending children in care to live hundreds of miles from their
families with little follow-up to see if they have settled into
their foster homes or schools, it says.
Children
with physical or learning disabilities are not cared for properly.
Many staff lack the training to communicate with them adequately
or to identify potential abuse.
A number
of staff are also not being checked properly. References are not
always taken up, and temporary agency staff and foreign workers
are often not checked at all.
"Five
years after Climbie and almost three years after Soham, and all
that soul searching, and basic improvements are not happening,"
said a source close to the report.
"We
cannot prevent every child's death - you can't prevent the rogue
nutter slipping through the net - but you can have a procedure that
means you have the best system in place to prevent it."
The report
says rechecking the credentials of existing staff, especially those
in residential schools, with the Criminal Records Bureau was "particularly
inconsistent". A quarter of 96 independent schools did not
comply with appropriate staff checks.
The inspectorates,
which represent bodies such as Ofsted, the police and the prison
service, said that since their first report in 2002, there were
also "considerable concerns" about the different thresholds
applied by social services in child protection.
At the
same time, agencies other than social services - such as teachers
and doctors - were often unclear as to how to recognise signs of
abuse and how to report them.
Police
forces had complained that there were delays in social services
and NHS staff notifying them of concerns that might affect criminal
investigations.
The report
adds: "Some services are under considerable pressure because
of difficulty in recruiting and retaining suitably qualified and
experienced staff, especially in social services in London and the
South-East."
Among its
30 recommendations, the report says the immigration service should
be involved in safeguarding children. Individuals in each of the
agencies should have a clear understanding of the roles and functions
of other agencies and skills to undertake their roles.
The report,
Safeguarding Children, is being presented today to ministers including
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary,
and Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary.
swomack@telegraph.co.uk
