Commenting on Haringey Council’s fall to a one star council, Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey & Wood Green, says:

“We can only regret that the Audit Commission did not reach these conclusions sooner.Early indications of the failings in Children’s Services might have helped prevent the well-publicised tragedy that followed.

“Questions still remain unanswered how three stars were previously awarded to a service that has so publicly proved not to have deserved it.

“Up to now the Audit Commission has been complicit in the tick box culture that lulled all into a sense of security. I hope this marks a new chapter shedding a welcome eye on key services.”

Councillor Robert Gorrie, Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Haringey Council, adds:

“We have continually challenged the Labour Council’s leadership on sleep-like affliction to tick the right boxes and their neglect of their key responsibility – to deliver for the people of Haringey.

“Local residents and scrutineers rely on the supposedly expert assessment of service performance.Recent experience has shown how badly we have been let down.

“I very much hope this new assessment marks a watershed in this failed regime.”