Baby P: Sharon Shoesmith dismissed ‘without payout’

Haringey’s former director of children’s services, Sharon Shoesmith, has been dismissed from the council today, the authority has confirmed.

A spokesperson for Haringey Council said she would not be returning to work in the borough and did not receive any compensation or payment in lieu of notice.

Shoesmith was removed from her post as director by children’s services by children’s secretary Ed Balls last week following the “devastating” findings of an inspection ordered after the Baby P case. 

The joint area review by Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and the police inspectorate criticised “poor” child protection practices and concluded there had been “insufficient” management oversight of safeguarding in the borough, including by Shoesmith.

Following Balls’s decision, Shoesmith remained an employee of the council, though was placed on suspension, until today.

Responding to the news, Robert Gorrie, leader of the council’s opposition Liberal Democrat group, said: “This is the right decision. No one should be rewarded for failure in public service. This is another step in the difficult journey of rebuilding confidence in our borough’s children’s services.”

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