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Expert child protection units recommended in safeguarding review
A report investigating the deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson is calling for every local area to have an expert child protection unit.
The national child safeguarding practice review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, 6, and Star Hobson, 16-months, has recommended that experts in police, health and social work should form dedicated multi-agency teams to investigate allegations of serious harm to children.
The independent review, carried out by the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, looked at the lives of the two children who were murdered by their parents’ partners. It identified that failings in how agencies worked together meant concerns raised by wider family members about physical abuse were not properly investigated by police and social workers.
The report reveals that what happened to Arthur and Star are not isolated incidents and their deaths reflect wider problems in child safeguarding practice, including poor information sharing between professionals and weak decision-making. Therefore, the panel is calling for government to strengthen the child protection system at a national and local level so there is a more effective joined-up response.
The panel is making eight national recommendations and a number of local recommendations for safeguarding partners in Solihull and Bradford.
The national recommendations include implementing new expert-led, multi-agency child protection units to undertake investigation, planning and oversight of children at risk.
It recommends establishing national multi-agency practice standards for child protection - this would provide a standard of quality and consistency in practice for working with children at risk and their families across the country.
A sharper performance focus and better co-ordination of child protection policy in central government is also called for. This involves the establishment of a national Child Protection Board, bringing together all relevant central government departments, local government, the police, education and health representatives.
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