Calls for urgent change after Baby P report

The body responsible for monitoring children’s services, Ofsted, has called for an urgent review of how abuse cases are handled in the wake of Monday’s “damning” Baby P report, Reuters says.

“This report and the latest figures available clearly show that many children’s services are failing to learn fast enough from the most serious cases of abuse and neglect,” Ofsted’s Chief Inspector of Education Christine Gilbert said.

The independent report by Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and chief inspector of constabulary was commissioned at the end of the trial into the death of Baby P and looked into the roles of health service, social workers and the police.

According to NSPCC one child dies from cruelty every week in the UK. Illustration by the journalist's little brother. Reproduced by kind permission of the artist.

The 17-month-old boy died in August 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries despite being on an “at risk” register and having had 60 visits from Haringey Council care workers.

His mother, her boyfriend and the couple’s lodger have been convicted of “causing or allowing” his death and are to be sentenced next year.

‘Devastating’ failures

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls, who received the findings yesterday, said in a press conference that the report painted a “devastating and damning” picture of the failings in the north London local authority.

Mr Balls reported on a “a catalogue of failures” which continue to put children in danger. He ordered a new “serious case review” into Baby P’s death to be published by March next year after the inspectors found the one prepared by the authority was inadequate, the Guardian reported.

Sharon Shoesmith, head of Children’s Services at Haringey Council, was removed from her post with immediate effect, and Haringey Council leader George Meehan and Liz Santry, the cabinet member for children and young people, both resigned within hours of Mr Balls’ announcement.

NSPCC urges government investment

Wes Cuell, the director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, NSPCC, welcomed the Government’s prompt action and supported Ofsted’s plans of carrying out annual unannounced inspections in England.

“Public services should be held accountable when the children they are protecting die or are seriously injured. It is vital that the public are confident that local reviews into serious cases are carried out properly. This must lead to real and lasting positive change for children”, he said in an NSPCC press release.

Anemone Sengkouvanh, a digital fundraiser at the NSPCC headquarters in London told Bury The Lead today that the organisation is “experiencing an unprecedented public interest in the Baby P case.”

“People are emailing and calling us all the time demanding to know what went wrong. It only shows we need more public awareness and to provide more educational material to people”, she said.

She urges the government to invest more in increasing the skills and set high standards for professionals working with children at risk in order to raise levels of competence and make sure they have got the means to be fully accountable.

“Sadly we cannot forget that this is not an isolated case. Each week at least one child dies from cruelty”, she said.

Drinking to Get More Expensive

Special offers on drink, especially for women are on the way out

New laws to be unveiled by the government will make it harder to buy cheap alcohol, and will give the police more power to deal with underage drinking, The Daily Telegraph has reported.

Speaking to Bury the Lead, Constable David James of the Metropolitan Police said he personally supported the proposed regulations.

“This country has a culture of ‘get drunk as quickly as possible,’ and that’s dangerous,” he said.

The changes in legislation could bring a ban on happy hours, ‘drink as much as you can’ offers, and promotions offering free drinks for women.

Students who avail of these offers are worried about the further drain on their expenses.

Valeria Marchetti, 29, is one of the students in London who would now think twice before going for a drink.

“Sometimes students just need the entertainment after a long day at university,” she says. “If drinks become more expensive, then maybe I’ll buy some wine and drink with my friends at home.”

“Little difference”

For others however, regulations would make “little difference”.

“If I’m planning to go out, I’d go anyway. Sometimes, the difference between happy hour prices and normal prices is only 30p or 50p so it doesn’t matter,” says journalism student Javier Duque.

Warren Shread, 22, agrees. “A minimum price on drinks would not affect me. I’d still go out to drink,” he says.

The government decisions will not greatly affect university bars either. Many of them already have regulations in place that encourage responsible drinking.

Jim Chapman, manager of Undercroft, the University of Westminster student union bar says, “We already have a responsible drinking policy in place.”

“We could have dropped our prices to compete with local bars offering special promotions for students, but we chose not to, because we support responsible drinking.”

“Irresponsible” prices

The new regulations are to be detailed in the Queen’s Speech and will put a curb on what the Home Office calls “irresponsible” prices on alcohol.

The move is part of the Government’s attempts to tackle the issue of drunkenness, especially in youngsters.

According to the Daily Telegraph however, the ministers are unwilling to introduce a minimum price for alcohol. They are afraid such a decision would alienate voters in these times of recession.

Supermarkets have been criticised for offering alcohol at lower than cost price, at a loss, to attract customers. However, prices of alcohol at supermarkets and off licenses are not expected to be included in the regulations.