Baby Peter - statements by Cllr Lorna Reith, Deputy Leader, and Dr Ita O'Donovan, Chief Executive of the Council
Tuesday 2 December 2008
A press conference was held on Monday 1 December at which the council gave its response to the review of child protection in Haringey.
Statements were made by Councillor Lorna Reith and Doctor Ita O’Donovan.
Cllr Lorna Reith, Deputy Leader of the council
We are deeply sorry we are that we did not do more to protect Baby Peter. We have a duty to protect children and on this occasion we failed. I have found it hard to understand how anyone could do such terrible things to a defenceless baby.
The council takes full responsibility for all the failings in our service. We acknowledge our duty to protect children in Haringey and the failings in our service identified in the report.
We welcome the support which is being offered by Government in terms of the intervention announced by the Secretary of State earlier today to help us make the improvements which we understand are so necessary.
We need to make changes to the ways we work and we need to make changes to the ways we work in partnership. We will work with all local partners to support improvement.
We can’t change what happened. This report confirms that we could have done more to protect Baby Peter. We can change things for the future. The best tribute we can now give him is to take action immediately, make the changes we need and start to rebuild confidence in our child protection service.
Dr Ita O’Donovan, Chief Executive of the council
I want to say how truly sorry I am that this young child (Baby Peter) has lost his life. I know we did not do enough to protect him and that is and going to be something I will never forget. There has been personal and collective anguish and sorrow from staff across the Council.
I offer my sincere apology and sympathy to his father and family.
I welcome the report from Inspectors who recently conducted a Joint Area Review on Safeguarding Children in Haringey, as I know my colleagues within the Police, Primary Care Trust and Great Ormond Street Hospital do and we are committed to doing everything we can to improve how we work and how we work together.
The report which we have just received will be supported by the appointment of a new Director of Children’s’ Services. Our plans for longer term improvement will be reported to the Council along with the detailed actions we are committed to delivering.
I can tell you of the actions that are being taken immediately to improve the quality of services for safeguarding children within the Borough:
We were directed by the Secretary of State to remove the current director of Children and Young People’s Services from her statutory duty. We suspended her immediately and will follow the legal process as speedily as possible.
We have suspended a number of other staff, pending investigation following the Ofsted report. We will follow the process as speedily as the law allows.
The position of other staff will be subject to review in the light of today’s report. The review will be carried out by John Coughlan, the new Director of the Children and Young People’s service. I am pleased that the Secretary of State directs that the interim Deputy Director should be confirmed in post.
As the minister outlined, an independent Chair of the Local Children’s Safeguarding Board has been appointed to ensure independent challenge and scrutiny of the Council and its partners services and specifically with regard to serious case reviews.
The first meeting of the board will consider the report and look at changes we need to make individually and collectively as a result of the report.
In the sixteen months since Baby Peter died Haringey’s social workers have continued to do their best, often in very difficult circumstances, to protect vulnerable children in our community. Despite the pressure of the last few months and weeks, they continue to put the interests of those children first.
On 1 December the Leader of the council, councillor George Meehan and the cabinet member for children and young people resigned from their posts.
You can read the statements they made at the press conference here.
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