Probe launched after eight children die in Birmingham social services care
MINISTERS have sent in an intervention team to investigate Birmingham social services after the death of eight children in three years.
The youngsters were all known to social workers but died of suspected abuse or neglect.
A further two children, not known to the department, have also died in suspicious circumstances.
A Government ‘hit squad’ has now been sent into the city council to look at its embattled children’s services.
Last night, Perry Barr Labour MP Khalid Mahmood called for an urgent inquiry and said: “‘There has been a systemic failure in Bimingham social services and it’s simply not fit for purpose.
‘‘It is not a department that is under control. They have employed four policy directors in social services but they’ve not got the right people at grass roots level who ultimately provide the real service.’’
Shock figures obtained from the council by the Sunday Mercury show 10 suspicious child deaths in Birmingham since April 2006. Eight of the youngsters were known to social workers.
Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes ordered an intervention team into the city in the last few weeks after a critical Ofsted report branded council services aimed at keeping kids safe from physical harm and sexual abuse as ‘inadequate’.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: “We have already sent in our intervention experts. Officials have met with Birmingham City Council and ministers will decide shortly on any action that may be necessary.”
Council bosses have not released the identities of the 10 deceased children, but youngsters who have died in Birmingham recently include:
* Five-month-old Kasey Hand, who was found dead at an address in Quinton in March 2008;
* And Rashid Rullah, an 18-month-old who died after allegedly being accidentally shot by his five year-old sister in Washwood Heath in September 2008.
As well as the 10 deaths, two other children known to social workers suffered serious injuries as a result of neglect or abuse which could have resulted in fatalities, the council has confirmed.
Birmingham’s record for suspicious child deaths is worse than that of Doncaster, where Government ministers have already ordered an independent inquiry following the deaths of seven youngsters in five years.
Last month, Oftsed labelled Birmingham children services ‘inadequate’ for failing to provide a safe environment for children.
Almost three-quarters of children’s services in England were ranked as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the inspectors, but Birmingham was among eight seen as failing, including Doncaster and Haringey, which is facing its own probe following the death of Baby P.
The Birmingham department was criticised for not investigating reports of children at risk quickly enough, and the council was accused of taking too long to complete serious case reviews into incidents where social workers are believed to have failed.
Another key weakness highlighted was the department’s ‘very low spend on family support’.
This typically includes residential placements for parents and children, parenting lessons at family centres, debt counselling, help with paying nursery and childminding fees and programmes for drug addicts and alcoholics.
The Ofsted findings reflect a sharp reversal in performance since 2007, when its annual survey said Birmingham was delivering children’s services at above minimum requirements.
Birmingham social workers have been accused of failing children in the past too.
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