News

Chairperson of the Victoria Climbie Inquiry Lord Laming rejected attempts by Haringey Council this week to withhold “essential” evidence from the independent inquiry into Victoria’s death.

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 Evening Standard newspaper after last week’s meeting of the council’s policy and strategy committee.

The preface, signed by Haringey’s social services director Anne Bristow, 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.