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Chairperson of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry Lord Herbert Laming rejected attempts by Haringey council to withhold `essential` evidence relevant to Victoria’s death, writes Lauren Revans.

The evidence, in the form of the council’s "preface" to Haringey area child protection committee’s revised part 8 review, only came to light when it was leaked to Community Care and the London Evening Standard newspaper and after last week’s meeting of the council’s policy and strategy committee.

Signed by Haringey’s social services director Anne Bristow, the preface notes that despite the significant failings identified in the case review report, "the case review was unable to conclude that taking any of the missed opportunities would necessarily have guaranteed that Victoria would not have died".

It also points out that the social services and police powers to remove children from their carers are dependent on having evidence that would stand up in court, and that none of the agencies involved "habitually deal with those capable of murdering a child in the manner evidenced in this case".

"Nevertheless, the case review report indicates that the professional agencies’ failings in this case were significant indeed," the preface continues, adding that the review’s recommendations have now been incorporated into the ACPC’s multi-agency improvement plan agreed by the committee in September.

Lord Laming told the inquiry that the comments about the missed opportunities "seemed to be a conclusion which is certainly of great importance to this inquiry".

"Therefore, I feel strongly that, however this document may have got into the public domain…, it seems absolutely essential that it is presented to the inquiry," Laming said.

According to the preface, the council considers the key messages to be learnt from the case review to include: the need for improved and systematic training; the need to be clear about the role of advisers and managers across agencies; the need to ensure children are interviewed wherever possible in their own language; the need to refer cases to the education welfare service where schooling is an issue; the need for meetings to be attended by key personnel involved with a child; and the need to ensure practitioners are aware as to how to express dissent about another agency’s actions.

Recording must also be improved, a clear single set of ACPC child protection procedures devised, links between the council’s housing department and other child protection agencies improved, and sharing information with other local authorities when a child moves, given consideration.

"Progress has been made in respect of a number of areas," the preface says. However, it acknowledges that this "progress" has yet to be agreed by ACPC member agencies.