Ed Balls orders inquiry into children's welfare services in Haringey

From the Independent:
The Children's Secretary Ed Balls today ordered a review of children's welfare services in Haringey, in the wake of the case of the 17-month-old boy known as Baby P who died after being horribly abused.

Mr Balls said the review will involve an "urgent and thorough inspection of the quality of practice and management of all services which contribute to the effective safeguarding of children" in the north London borough.

And he announced the director of children's services in Hampshire, John Coughlan, has been drafted in immediately to work alongside his counterpart in Haringey to ensure proper procedures for safeguarding children are in place and are being properly applied.

Mr Balls said: "The case of Baby P is tragic and appalling. It is our duty to take whatever action is needed to ensure that such a tragedy doesn't happen again, that lessons are learned and that children in Haringey are safe."

The review will be conducted jointly by Ofsted, the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection and the Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Inspectors with specialist expertise and experience in child protection are due to produce an initial report by 1 December.

Mr Balls today received a report into the Baby P case, commissioned from an independent reviewer by Haringey's Local Safeguarding Children Board.

He said the Serious Case Review indicated there were "a number of failings of practice and management by the agencies involved" in Baby P's case.

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