Victoria Climbie Report

“ It is not the handful of hapless, if sometimes inexperienced, front-line staff that I direct most criticism for the events leading up to Victoria’s death. While the standard of work done by those with direct contact with her was generally of a very poor quality, the greatest failure rests with the managers and senior members of the authorities whose task it was to ensure that services for children, like Victoria, were properly financed, staffed and able to deliver good quality support to children and families.” (Para. 1.23)

Background• Victoria died February 2000, aged 8 years

old

• Kouao and Manning found guilty of murder & sentenced to life imprisonment in Jan 2001

• Inquiry set up April 2001, chaired by Lord Laming

• Report published 28th January 2003

• Report is over 400 pages long, with 108 recommendations

Summary of findings• Victoria was known to 3 housing

departments, 4 social services departments, 2 GPs, two hospitals, an NSPCC-run family centre and two police child protection teams

• “The extent of the failure to protect Victoria was lamentable.”

• Failures at every level and in every organisation

Key themes in the report• Child protection a “low priority”

• Lack of accountability right through the organisations to the most senior level

• Under-funding and under-staffing

• Repeated failures of basic professional practice

• Too much, and outdated local guidance

• Staff not adequately trained in child protection

Next steps• Full response to be published as part of

the Green Paper on Children at Risk in spring

• Checklist of practice recommendations was issued

• Guidance to practitioners to be issued in next 3 months

• Self audit tool issued to Social Services

• Health audits to follow

Standards• Referral

• Assessment

• Allocation, Service provision & closure

• Guidance

• Training & development

• Organisation & management

• Governance

Criteria

• Judgements

• Not yet being developed

• Being developed

• In place

• In place & systematically monitored & reviewed

And then…………..Evaluation

Visits

Inspections

SSI Full Children’s Service Inspection

Implications for All Organisations• Clear lines of accountability

• Good supervision & management processes

• Adequate and effective recording & note-taking systems

• Training of all staff working with children & families in child protection

• Basic good professional practice

Victoria Climbie Report

It is the job of senior officers and elected councillors to inform themselves about the quality of services being offered by their front-line staff, and to take appropriate action to remedy deficiencies as they are revealed.

Victoria Climbie Report

I regard the monitoring of front-line work by senior managers and elected councillors to be an essential component of the effective delivery of services to children.

Implications for Councils

• Ensuring good basic professional practice

• Responsibility of Chief Executives

• Reflecting their duties towards children in their budgeting decisions

Victoria Climbie ReportRecommendation 27 Chief Executives

and lead members of local authorities

with social services responsibilities must ensure that children ’s services are

explicitly included in their authority ’s list of priorities and operational plans.

(paragraph 5.4)

Victoria Climbie ReportRecommendation 41.Chief executives of

local authorities with social services

responsibilities must make arrangements for senior managers and councillors

to regularly visit intake teams in their children ’s services department,and to

report their findings to the Chief Executive and Social Services Committee. (paragraph 5.193)

Victoria Climbie ReportAction in Devon

An immediate audit of the 46 critical recommendations identified by the

Secretary of State for Health in accordance with the audit tool supplied by the Social Services

Inspectorate.

Victoria Climbie ReportThis audit will contribute to the

requirements laid down in Recommendation 28 that the Chief

Executive of the Local Authority should prepare a Position Statement

on the true picture of the current strengths and weaknesses of their

“front door” duty systems for children and families.

Victoria Climbie Report

The audit will be co-ordinated by the Devon Area Child Protection Committee in order to identify

and action the cross cutting issues in relation to the multi-agency

child protection system in Devon.

Victoria Climbie ReportA South West Peninsula Conference

on Lord Laming’s Report to be held to which representatives of all

relevant stake holders and interested parties will be invited.

To be held on Thursday 22 May 2003

Newquay, Cornwall.

Victoria Climbie Report

The Devon Area Child Protection Committee to take responsibility for

co-ordinating the response to all 108 recommendations contained within the Report on behalf of all relevant agencies and organisations within

Devon.

Victoria Climbie Report• A meeting of Chief Officers from

Agencies across Devon was held on the 27 February to ensure a full understanding of the issues and obtain multi-agency commitment to implementing the recommendations.

• Follow up meeting of Chief Officers 14 May to receive ACPC findings (from all audits)

Implications for Trusts

• Basic good professional practice

• Responsibilities towards children

• Priorities and Planning Framework sets children as a priority: importance in budget-setting