Doncaster

[shc]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 501181.ece

An investigation has been launched into a council's children services amid fears of another Baby P-style tragedy.

The deaths of seven children in Doncaster have prompted ministers to order an inquiry, only a month after Ofsted rated the South Yorkshire authority's provision for children as “inadequate”.

Serious case reviews into the deaths of three of the seven children have already been made public. One report found a “chaotic and dangerous” situation within the team of social workers in charge of the case of a 10-month-old boy who died in the town in December 2007.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c ... caster_cou

101 investigations by the LGO into the state of Doncaster Social Services. since 2000... No M and/or MI reports.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2002/mar/13/uknews

Remember 'Donnygate' in 2002

[shc]

The range of courses is expanding in response to demand. In addition to Good Complaint Handling (identifying and processing complaints) and Effective Complaint Handling (investigation and resolution) we now offer these courses specifically for social services staff and a course on reviewingg complaints for social care review panel members. We will customise courses to meet your Council’s specific requirements and provide courses for groups of staff from different smaller authorities.

The Local Government Ombudsman’s Annual Letter
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
for the year ended 31 March 2008

http://www.lgo.org.uk/letters/2007-08/p ... caster.pdf

[ke]

Stuart, your link above is either wrong or it has been removed!

[ABH]

LGO has a new website and have changed the link

http://www.lgo.org.uk/documents/annuall ... caster.pdf

[shc]

I noticed that Lillian had identified that a new website had been posted at 6.00 pm on Monday - and wondered what she was on about as I was still going to the old one.. so apologies Keith..

I would guess that the LGO has changed provider (some of the new pages had this domain lgo.dev.web-labs.co.uk) and that they ran the two systems in paralell while the routers were updated.. this can take a little time..

[shc]

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Ne ... ssessments

This year there are three local authorities graded overall as outstanding for children’s services: Gateshead; Kensington and Chelsea; and York. There are four local authorities graded as inadequate overall for children’s services: Doncaster; Haringey; Milton Keynes and Surrey. Eight local authorities have been assessed as inadequate for the ‘staying safe’ outcome area: Birmingham; Doncaster; Essex; Haringey; Reading; Surrey; West Sussex; and Wokingham.

[shc]

MILTON KEYNES

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/Soci ... 1461376.jp

A catalogue of errors by social services allowed tragic tot Deraye Lewis to be brutally beaten to death by his mum's boyfriend, the Citizen can reveal.
This week, as evil Nicholas Halling began a life sentence for murder, the sad history of his three-year-old victim – and the officials who let him down – began to unfold.
It has now been confirmed that social workers in neighbouring Bedfordshire were tipped off that Halling was abusing the
little mixed-race boy some six months
before the murder.

[shc]

SURREY

http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/40388 ... _services/

Serious failings in child protection could "not have guaranteed" the safety of a baby who was severely brain damaged, a critical independent report into Kingston social services concluded.

In a second case, where two child were doused in diesel by their suicidal father after social services "backed away" from the family, both Kingston and Surrey ignored national child protection guidance, drawn up in the wake of the tragic death of Victoria Climbie.

The report into Child A and Child B, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Surrey and Kingston services failed to intervene.....

[shc]

ESSEX

Of interest
http://www.fassit.co.uk/essex_social_services.htm

the Climbie Foundation have also run a campaign against Essex..

http://www.victoria-climbie.org.uk/inde ... &Itemid=42

IT didn’t look good. Even in the rather sanitised language of Ofsted, it was clear those taking care of Essex’s children were not doing all they should.

In fact, they were poor. In a recent report, Ofsted gave Essex County Council the same rating as Haringey, the authority criticised following the death of Baby P.

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/4029143 ... _in_Essex/

[shc]

BIRMINGHAM

BIRMINGHAM social services failed to protect a schoolgirl after allowing her to stay with her evil mother for TWO years – despite evidence she was being brutally beaten.
Teachers alerted social workers way back in 2006 after the terrified 13-year-old told them of the sadistic abuse.
But while the under-fire department launched an investigation into the claims it took no action to remove the girl – and later closed the case.

http://www.sundaymercury.net/lifestyle- ... -22266412/

An inquiry into the care of a seven-year-old girl who was shot dead while staying with a convicted crack dealer has uncovered a catalogue of failures by social services, children’s guardians and immigration officials.Toni-Ann Byfield was under protection of Birmingham City Council. Police believe Toni-Ann was murdered to prevent her from identifying Mr Byfield’s killer.

http://www.no2abuse.com/index.php/artic ... from-soci/

An MP has issued a writ claiming £300,000 against Birmingham social services and individual social workers for allegedly harassing his newborn baby and her mother.

John Hemming, 45, the Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley, claims that the harassment centred on a threat to put baby Isabel on an at-risk register. The threat was later withdrawn.

He claimed that Isabel’s mother, Emily Cox, 30, was questioned by social services as she went into labour in October. In the writ lodged at the High Court, he said that she and his baby had been “defamed, tortured and assaulted” by social services.

Mr Hemming, a successful entrepreneur married to Christine, 46, admitted to the affair when it was revealed that Miss Cox was expecting his child.

A spokesman for the council said: “Birmingham City Council will be vigorously defending the matter and its staff.”

http://www.fassit.co.uk/daily_mail_mp.htm

[shc]

READING

During the hearing into the tot's death, Mr Bedford, coroner for Berkshire, criticised child protection officers for not doing enough to safeguard the toddler.

http://www.fassit.co.uk/trae_bleu_layne.htm

Trae-Bleu Layne had just turned three when she died from an overdose of methadone, the heroin substitute, supplied to her mother.
Time and time again the authorities had been warned about her mother's drug addiction, criminal activity and violence in the home.
Just three weeks before she died, social workers had been close to saving the little girl when they held a meeting about taking her into care – but the decision was made to give her mother "another chance".
The neglect was so all pervasive that Trae-Bleu's grandmother said she never saw the young girl smile.
A serious case review into the care of the child identified dozens of failings by the authorities.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... vices.html

[shc]

WEST SUSSEX

???

[lilian]

Baring in mind all the recent public disclosures of councils failing in their duty to protect vulnerable children, the LGA is still pushing forward its demands to central government for greater freedoms to do as they like.

I do think that the LGA needs to issue a public statement in regards to why so many of its members are failing to protect our children and why in light of these failings they still believe they deserve having greater autonomy.

Local councils are the ones who have the AUTHORITY to intervene in such cases, not local residents. Local residents can only do so much eg make reports to councils about their concerns that a child or children may be or are in danger. If councils can't or won't protect vulnerable children then they must hand over authority to local residents to protect them.

[shc]

Your proposal makes sense.

I know teachers (including head teachers) find it impossible to get Social Services to investigate cases where they have a very good idea that there are problems. The decision to investigate is the social workers (and is often resource constrained).

The easy way would be for the Social Worker to be required to produce a report in relation to a complaint by a Health person or teacher.. and say five concerned adults (not involved in children issues).. and justify their report to these interested parties..

[lilian]

What you say sounds sensible to me Staurt, but sensible and reasonable isn't a concept local councils seem to recognise. They want more authority not less, and by involving sensible local people who do have integrity, and who are not party political, they would be relingushing some of the craved after power they want more of.

Many of our so-called 'democratically' elected representations, be they MP's, councillors or tenant reps, use the one and only process we have of 'free and fair democractic' elections to legitimise themselves as something they are not. They then say 'but I was elected' so I do have a mandate to do as I am doing. Its a big con and more and more people are realising this.

[shc]

That is the problem with democracy (rule of the mob)..

1.Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2 A political or social unit that has such a government.
3 The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4 Majority rule.
5 The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

Local government and quangos are inherently not democratic.. as hardly as anyone votes for them..

.. as long as Council's determine complaints as well as provide the services about which complaints are made.. they are never going to act reasonably (as it will lead to an increase in Council Tax).. The same goes for the LGO.. how can the LGO look impatiently at a complaint when his staff have conducted an investigation.. and also made a determination.