Haringey: ministers ignored warnings
Social worker alarmed by abuse urged public inquiry into council's social services department six months before the death of Baby P. The Government ignored a whistleblower's plea for an investigation into Haringey Council's failing social services department six months before the horrifying death of "Baby P", The Independent has learnt. A former social worker at the council wrote to Patricia Hewitt, then Health Secretary, to highlight Haringey's inadequacies in dealing with abuse claims. The woman pleaded for a public inquiry and claimed: "Child abusers are not being tackled." The council has since gagged her with an injunction. The letters were sent by Lawrence Davies, a solicitor for the former Haringey social worker Nevres Kemal, in February 2007 – six months before the 17-month-old boy known as "Baby P" died at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger. Baby P was on Haringey's at-risk register and had been visited at home 60 times, but social workers and doctors did not spot the signs of abuse. A post mortem showed he had a broken back, eight broken ribs, numerous bruises, severe cuts and abrasions to his head and face and badly damaged fingers. Ms Kemal had been working on a separate case where children from one family were being sexually abused by a relative. She said the council had failed to act on her information, and that she was dismissed for causing trouble. The letter was sent to Ms Hewitt, the then culture minister David Lammy and the junior health ministers Rosie Winterton and Ivan Lewis. Mr Lewis was also responsible for the Department of Health's social care portfolio. It read: "Our client whistle-blew the fact that the sexual abuse had been ongoing for months and the new management brought in post-Climbie had not acted... We write to ask for a public inquiry into these matters." Mr Davies expected that the letter would ring alarm bells – especially since Haringey was severely criticised eight-year-old Victoria Climbie was murdered by her great-aunt in 2000. Instead, he received a reply from the Government informing him it would not undertake an inquiry. Yesterday, he said: "Ms Kemal spotted the flaws at Haringey Council, exactly the same flaws as the ones that allowed Victoria Climbie to die and Baby P to die. We asked for a public inquiry. Who knows what could have been done if they had undertaken one. It's just tragic." The letter was also sent to the Department of Health's Commission for Social Care Inspection – the watchdog body for social workers. The query was passed between departments but again no action was taken. Mr Davies added: "The Social Care Inspectorate are the people with the hit squads if they are tipped off about things like this. It is their job to investigate, but they didn't. Why?" snip http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/haringey-ministers-ignored-warnings-1017936.html
Social worker alarmed by abuse urged public inquiry into council's social services department six months before the death of Baby P. The Government ignored a whistleblower's plea for an investigation into Haringey Council's failing social services department six months before the horrifying death of "Baby P", The Independent has learnt. A former social worker at the council wrote to Patricia Hewitt, then Health Secretary, to highlight Haringey's inadequacies in dealing with abuse claims. The woman pleaded for a public inquiry and claimed: "Child abusers are not being tackled." The council has since gagged her with an injunction. The letters were sent by Lawrence Davies, a solicitor for the former Haringey social worker Nevres Kemal, in February 2007 – six months before the 17-month-old boy known as "Baby P" died at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger. Baby P was on Haringey's at-risk register and had been visited at home 60 times, but social workers and doctors did not spot the signs of abuse. A post mortem showed he had a broken back, eight broken ribs, numerous bruises, severe cuts and abrasions to his head and face and badly damaged fingers. Ms Kemal had been working on a separate case where children from one family were being sexually abused by a relative. She said the council had failed to act on her information, and that she was dismissed for causing trouble. The letter was sent to Ms Hewitt, the then culture minister David Lammy and the junior health ministers Rosie Winterton and Ivan Lewis. Mr Lewis was also responsible for the Department of Health's social care portfolio. It read: "Our client whistle-blew the fact that the sexual abuse had been ongoing for months and the new management brought in post-Climbie had not acted... We write to ask for a public inquiry into these matters." Mr Davies expected that the letter would ring alarm bells – especially since Haringey was severely criticised eight-year-old Victoria Climbie was murdered by her great-aunt in 2000. Instead, he received a reply from the Government informing him it would not undertake an inquiry. Yesterday, he said: "Ms Kemal spotted the flaws at Haringey Council, exactly the same flaws as the ones that allowed Victoria Climbie to die and Baby P to die. We asked for a public inquiry. Who knows what could have been done if they had undertaken one. It's just tragic." The letter was also sent to the Department of Health's Commission for Social Care Inspection – the watchdog body for social workers. The query was passed between departments but again no action was taken. Mr Davies added: "The Social Care Inspectorate are the people with the hit squads if they are tipped off about things like this. It is their job to investigate, but they didn't. Why?" snip http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/haringey-ministers-ignored-warnings-1017936.html