News

Allegations that Brent social services placed unaccompanied minors in bed and breakfast accommodation and employed people in its children's services department the day after they arrived in this country have been challenged by the council's social services director.

Speaking exclusively to Community Care, Jenny Goodall said she was keen to respond to claims made by social worker Edward Armstrong in his evidence to the Victoria Climbie inquiry.

She said his claims that unaccompanied minors had been placed in bed and breakfast and that individual cases had been mishandled and closed prematurely were "unsubstantiated". She added that the authority had asked Armstrong's solicitor for details about allegations that it placed unaccompanied 13-year-olds in bed and breakfast accommodation (news, page 8, 18 October).

After hearing Armstrong's evidence, inquiry chairperson Lord Laming interrupted proceedings to order an urgent investigation into Brent's working practices.

Armstrong, who is currently suspended from his post as intake team duty manager in children's services pending an investigation into his handling of the first referral regarding Climbie, had also alleged that the council had employed people in its children's services the day after arriving in the country.

Goodall, who became director in September 1999, two months after the council ceased its involvement with Climbie, said: "He's right that we were very reliant on agency staff, as are a lot of local authorities, but our staff were always interviewed."

But she admitted that in the mid-1990s "a lot of things were done to children's services that weren't very helpful". These included huge underspending (news, page 9, 25 October) and staffing shortages -Ê23 posts were cut including that of head of children's services.

However, she refused to comment on claims that money earmarked for children's services had been given to education and older people's services.

Goodall will give evidence to the inquiry in the week beginning 10 December.