Edinburgh union backs Ness report

Unison has welcomed an external review into the death of Caleb Ness
that says lack of resources affected Edinburgh Council’s ability to
deal with the case (news, page 9, 19 August).

Unison attacked Susan O’Brien’s initial report when it was
published in October last year. The report criticised social
workers.

Unison’s Edinburgh branch secretary John Stevenson said: “We argued
that the O’Brien report into the death of Caleb Ness was flawed and
now a report by three independent experts has found a lack of
resources is the key issue thwarting social workers’ child
protection work.”

Unison is calling on the council to address resources urgently and
not wait for the social services merger with education in April
next year.