Balls lives up to his name

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The devastating critique that damned Haringey Council’s part in the Baby P tragedy has at last blasted a hole in the defensive, rank-closing administration.

I had my doubts whether it would really happen – as I was there, as a councillor, during the Victoria Climbie tragedy when Haringey failed, was damned in a report that singled out senior people for their failures to take responsibility or to understand they had got things wrong – and not one senior person went.

Indeed, George Meehan not only didn’t quit as council leader, but he subsequently had a period in charge of children’s services and then came back again to head the council. Only now has he finally taken responsibility for that long period of failure, punctured by those two awful deaths of Victoria Climbie and Baby P. Going too are senior staff – this time, it isn’t just the most junior social worker being blamed.

Credit to Ed Balls who, while the Haringey Labour network of friends and colleagues closed ranks and bunkered down in the London borough claiming no-one needed to go and nothing had gone too wrong, has lived up to his name and had the determination to ring the changes.

That in itself gives me some hope for the future. More hope too comes from the quality of those brought in to run children’s services. From the ashes of tragedy we now have some of the most highly respected social services staff in place right at the top.

It’s going to be a tough job to turn that around – but we need to make Haringey an exemplar so that the best and brightest in the social care world want to come to a new Haringey – imbued with a zeal to make it work. We need swingeing changes in management, structure and staffing. We will need resources to make sure that changes can be properly implemented – and I didn’t hear Mr Balls talk extra resources as yet.

But there are also wider issues untouched by Ed Balls’s short, sharp investigation.

For example – Sharon Shoesmith was in charge of education as well as child protection – following the recommendations of Lord Laming turned into legislation by the 2004 Children’s Act. It seemed a good and obvious idea at the time – stopping the gap through which children might fall if teachers didn’t communicate worries with social services. But it clearly didn’t work. Is this the failing just of staff in Haringey, or is there a deeper problem with the manner – or perhaps even concept – of merging the two? It’s not fashionable for politicians to say, "I don’t know", but on this one I don’t. My mind is open – but I am sure we need to consider the issue carefully.

And what about inspections? Just before Victoria Climbie’s death outside inspectors gave Haringey a glowing report. Just as this time Haringey got a glowing report just before all the truth over Baby P’s death came tumbling out. Huge resources go in to inspections. Are they really being well used?

And what about the overview and scrutiny system at local councils, which is meant to put local councillors – with their on-the-ground knowledge – in place to really get into the truth of how well or badly services are being run? In Haringey, the process was little short of worthless. Labour rolled out the block-vote party mentality and stopped effective scrutiny when concerns were raised over children’s services.

Baby P died because of the almost unimaginable evil of three people. The council, health and police services that should have intervened to stop this failed. But we should heed all the warnings from the case – some of which, as with scrutiny are by no means restricted to children’s services but instead can impact any council service. Let at least Baby P’s death bring that about that pause for thought.

This piece first appeared on the New Statesman website.

Further comment on the Baby P case is on Lynne Featherstone’s blog.

(c) Lynne Featherstone, 2008

What to make of yesterday?

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The day of reckoning when finally George Meehan paid the price for not listening, not heeding and not doing the job he promised to do after Victoria Climbie. I remember the breast-beating Council meeting back then – ‘this will never happen again’, ‘lessons must be learnt’ and ‘I personally will sit on the child protection committee’. Though no-one senior took responsibility and resigned.

Mr Meehan’s departure this time is, however, just one drop in this dreadful ocean. Liz Santry has gone because her position put her in the legally accountable position. But neither went until the depth of the failings in Haringey were blazed across the country as Ed Balls read his statement – ending the hopes they had of hanging on. There was nowhere to go once they knew the damnation contained in the Ofsted report.

But remember, only last Monday at Haringey’s Full Council meeting, every one of the Labour councillors backed George Meehan and Liz Santry – and that’s part of the problem too. And why I say that Labour in Haringey has lost sense of right and wrong. Over-politicised, each move only to ensure their political future. That is an issue that bears scrutiny too.

Anyway – in the cold light of the morning after the night before – I am thinking that Ed Balls lived up to his name – and did the necessary and did it well.

I might and do disagree with him on the degree of holding safely by an outside team and don’t understand why he is giving any sort of time lag before deciding next June whether to take the Children’s department away from Haringey. I think he would have been better to put it into full special measures and then give it back slowly as and when Haringey has proved itself changed.

And the other area of disagreement is around the need for a public inquiry – which I still believe is absolutely vital to get at all the issues, wider issues, virtually untouched by this short sharp investigation. This was right for the short term and the urgent situation – but in the longer term there are sheafs of unanswered questions. More of that later.

For now I just want to really pay tribute to the people of this country, whose outpouring of grief and anger stoked the fires, and to the media whose relentless pursuit through broadcast and press left no place to hide.

And to all those in the Commons who kept the spotlight on Baby P and forced the issue. Without this force majeure – Haringey’s Labour council would have bunkered down and simply hoped to let the storm pass – like last time – and then in a few years time we would have been here again wondering how it could happen three times in the same borough.

Local MP demands urgent action on cancer screening failures

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Lynne Featherstone MP is asking the Department of Health and NHS London to intervene after it emerged that breast cancer screening services across North London will fail to meet national targets for years to come, due to capacity problems.

Lynne Featherstone is writing to ministers and officials following a meeting with Haringey Primary Care Trust, whose failings in the North London breast cancer screening service meant that they would be unable to meet current national targets, and would be unlikely to do so for a number of years.

The worrying news emerged after the Liberal Democrat MP and local health spokesperson Cllr Richard Wilson met with the health trust management on Thursday to discuss the Healthcare Commission’s recent assessment, which showed a general deterioration in quality of service.Breast cancer screening is one of the areas the trust is performing least well on, with not enough local women being seen by the screening service.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“Breast cancer screening saves lives, and not having a service that’s up to scratch locally is really devastating.

“This is a problem across North London and it is clear that this problem cannot be resolved by local action alone. That is why I’m calling on Whitehall and NHS London to pull in all stocks to help Haringey women get the service they need and deserve.”

The verdict on Haringey Council

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So – the report finds Haringey Council guilty – and then some. I have never seen such a damning and devastating criticism of an authority as this litany of failure – both systemic and personal, and at every level and more or less in every agency. But particularly singled out for special damnation – Haringey Council.

So – given all that, what an earth is Ed Balls doing commissioning more reports and waiting until next June before removing Haringey Children’s services from council administration? Yes more information may be necessary. Yes – Balls is right to put in John Coughlan to lead the department back to health. But we need children in Haringey who are at risk to be held safe in full special measures and only given back to Haringey itself as the department is changed, new management structures put in, and staff either re-trained, sacked or exonerated depending on their part and culpability.

When and as Haringey proves itself worthy of taking control of Children’s Services – then and only then – should they get the department back. They have to prove themselves first.

As to the resignations of George Meehan and Liz Santry – it’s a shame it took until they publicly had nowhere to go in the face of such extreme criticism before they finally acknowledged their responsibility.

And none of this sadly goes to the heart of the rotten culture in Haringey which is secretive, arrogant, rank-closing and abuses power. Lord knows I have been shouting this from rooftops for long enough. Now at least I have Ed Balls and the Government shouting the same thing with me!

George Meehan and Liz Santry resign

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Just got the news: Haringey Council leader George Meehan and Liz Santry (Cabinet member for children and young people services) have resigned. Update – Sharon Shoesmith has been removed from office too.

Here’s the Sky report:

http://video.news.sky.com/sky-news/app/flash/SkyvideoWrapper.swf?playerType=embedded&type=sky_production&videoSourceID=1302399&flashVideoUrl=feeds/skynews/latest/flash/balls_babyp_embed_011208_sens.flv

Baby P report goes to Ed Balls today

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So the report from Ed Ball’s urgent investigation arrives on his desk today. I expect it to be hard-hitting and demonstrate failures at many levels both systemic and personal. I don’t know whether he plans to make a statement on it right away or wait – but I do know what I want to hear from him.

First and foremost, is a strategy that effectively puts Haringey into special measures where the best social services chief and key other posts go in and hold Haringey safe whilst the changes that are needed are put into place.

We need good managers and social workers within the department to feel supported and we need to attract the very best to Haringey and imbue the department with the zeal and commitment it needs. The children who rely on social services must have a secure base to build from.

In terms of what happens to the staff involved in the tragedy – that is a matter for employment terms to take its course – be that exoneration, disciplinaries or sacking. That is not a matter for me.

Secondly, and part of that new start, is that the two leadership roles identified both by Lord Laming in his findings after Victoria Climbie and put into legislation as the accountable, buck stop here roles – Director of Children’s Services and Lead Politician for Children’s Services – must resign.

We can have no new start, nor rebuild confidence in Haringey whilst those who were in command and on whose watch Baby P died are still in place. Nor should there be any pay off for failure.

Last time no-one senior went – only the social worker at the end of the food chain took the blame for the lot. That is why Laming put in the importance of buck stops here positions and why the Government put it into legislation. Credit to Labour for implementing that recommendation. Now let’s see it mean something.

Lastly – there will almost certainly still be a need for a public inquiry. So many threads and issues cannot possibly be touched by a two week investigation – nor can they be examined properly by Lord Laming’s Review which takes in the whole country.

For example, what part did budget play? Why did children taken into care in Haringey drop so much compared to the rest of the country when Baby P was being visited all those times? What use is a desk research inspection that awards three stars – but has no knowledge of what is really going on in a children’s department? Is our inspection regime sufficient? What part does the award system play when the authority in answer to Baby P’s death thinks that this means they have done well? Did Haringey even tell the inspectors? And following procedures and ticking boxes – the perfect paper trail to a dead baby – is that a good regime to hold children safe?

And what about the health team outsourced to Great Ormond Street? Who is accountable when the view is that this is not the problem of the Primary Care Trust (PCT) now that it has been outsourced. Who is accountable? Why did so many doctors leave that team or go off sick?

I could go on and on – but I hope you get the point.

Liberal Democrats force review of Labour plan to scrap parks police

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Haringey Labour Council’s plan to scrap 10 dedicated members of the Parks Constabulary will face further examination after Liberal Democrats successfully forced a special ‘watchdog’ committee to discuss the issue.

Labour’s plan for a new parks force would mean the scrapping of the parks constabulary, made up of fully-qualified police people who are currently responsible for maintaining order in the borough’s parks. Haringey Liberal Democrats are worried that this move will result in reduced safety for Haringey residents.

Cllr Ron Aitken, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Crime, Policing and Community Safety said:

“This plan needs to be looked at again. I’m not convinced that the removal of the Parks Constabulary, who provide such a reassuring presence throughout the borough, will result in our parks becoming safer places.

“Parks provide an oasis for people in built-up areas and I believe the Parks Constabulary still has a vital role to play in ensuring that everyone is able to enjoy Haringey’s parks free from the fear of crime and harassment.”

Crouch End: action demanded to clear dangerous leaves

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Local Liberal Democrats in Crouch End have demanded that Haringey Council act now to clean slippery pavements before an accident occurs. Cllr Lyn Weber expressed her anger at Haringey Council’s failure to clean up fallen leaves which has caused pavements to be a danger to pedestrians.

Cllr Weber was promised that Haringey Council’s ‘leaf crew’ would clean up leaves on the weekend of 20th November, but this has still yet to be done.

Cllr Lyn Weber commented:

“Residents, especially elderly and frail pedestrians, could injure themselves badly if they slipped on fallen leaves.

“It is as if Haringey Council forgets that trees shed their leaves annually. Every year Haringey Council fails to act to clean leaves from the streets in Crouch End. It is an accident waiting to happen. It is simply not acceptable that when a cold snap occurs the Council is caught out like this.

“Crouch Hall Road is supposed to have a once a week street clean, twice a week litter picking service and a once a week leaf crew yet the level of street cleansing is not reflected in the state of the street.

“I have contacted Haringey Council to demand that action is taken immediately to clear Crouch End’s roads of these leaves before someone slips and suffers a serious injury.”

Wards Corner: Lib Dem joins delegation to Mayor over arrogant Haringey Council

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Tottenham’s leading Liberal Democrat joined a delegation of local residents to City Hall on 26th November to demand that the London Mayor call a halt to the controversial Wards Corner Development at Seven Sisters. Tough barrister and Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate David Schmitz has been giving free legal advice to the Wards Corner campaign for the past year.

David Schmitz says the Mayor has powers to halt to the development. He warned London Deputy Mayor Simon Milton of the inadequacy of the developer’s assurances that the popular Latin American market would be protected, along with the livelihoods of those who depend on it, once the present structure is torn down.

David Schmitz, Liberal Democrat PPC for Tottenham, comments:

“The developer’s offer of help to the traders just isn’t good enough. They have said they will pay compensation to the traders which they can then pool together to keep the market going while the development is underway.But we have no idea where the market can find a temporary home, and we have no way of knowing whether the money will turn out to be enough, when it is needed.

“It is clear that the Mayor has the powers to take action against the arrogance of Haringey Council – but is he willing to use them? Not only does the Mayor have planning powers; through London Underground, he controls much of the land that is to be built on. If he says no, the scheme simply cannot happen.

“I hope the Mayor will listen to the pleas of residents and take action. Anything less would be a huge let down.”

Liberal Democrats encourage all to vote for Lordship Rec in Mayor's park competition

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Haringey Liberal Democrats have emailed all of their members and supporters asking them to cast a vote for Lordship Recreation Ground in its bid to get a £400,000 slice of the Mayor of London’s “Help a London Park” fund.

The money would be used for improvements to the much neglected park, the biggest in Tottenham. Ideas include a new city farm, environmental centre, restoration of the River Moselle, improved entrances, play facilities and landscape works.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Culture, Leisure & Lifelong Learning, Cllr David Winskill, said:

“I have a real soft spot for Lordship Rec. Years ago, when I was student, I had a vacation job as a park keeper there and fell in love with the place. It is a real green oasis in the built up city and I hope everyone will take half a minute to vote. The local Friends Group has worked really hard and deserves the money to make the improvements.”

To show your support for the Rec, go to www.london.gov.uk/parksvote/region/north/lordship.jsp.