Birmingham Social Services condemned

Mar 5 2009 by Emma McKinney, Birmingham Mail

Her 18-year-old mother and two men, aged 20 and 22, were arrested on suspicion of assault and bailed pending further inquiries by police.

Birmingham social workers were also criticised in a damning report into the murder of seven-year-old Toni-Ann Byfield, who was shot in the back by assassin Joel Smith at her father’s London bedsit in 2003, despite being in the care of Birmingham social services at the time.

A team of Government officials have now been called in to help the city’s beleaguered social services department.

Today, Coun Whitby said he was “frustrated” by the latest findings but said that, with the exception of children’s services, the commission painted an upbeat picture of public services in Birmingham.

The council was classified as improving well and had higher marks for housing, schools, cultural and environmental services.

He warned the government not to be overly critical of social services, where officials were faced with making “the most incredibly difficult decisions” about the welfare of children on an almost daily basis.

There was a fine balance between interfering in family life and allowing people the freedom to live their lives as they wished, he added.

“It is essential there is no witch-hunt, otherwise people will feel that social work is an environment they dare not go into,” he said.

The news follows the scandal last year in Haringey, London, when a child known as Baby P died after suffering months of abuse despite having been visited by social workers on numerous occasions.