In the shadow of a tragedy, Victoria Climbié

Lord Laming's report into the murder of Victoria Climbié, published five years ago, was meant to herald a new era in child protection. But, says Liz Davies, his reform plan has led to many tried and tested systems being ditchedIt is five years since Lord Laming wrote his 108 recommendations in the Victoria Climbié inquiry report. It is also eight years since Victoria was murdered and Lisa Arthurworrey, Haringey council social worker for Victoria, still awaits her appeal hearing against the decision not to register her as a social worker. Victoria's killers, her great aunt, Marie Therese Kouao, and the woman's boyfriend, Carl Manning, were convicted; practitioners and managers, from various agencies and authorities, were criticised and one social worker remains the scapegoat. Since the inquiry, more children have died as a result of criminal acts of child abuse and I have no doubt that key errors evident in the Climbié case are being repeated. However, rather than blame individual incompetence, I would challenge the steer of government policy which, prior to the death of Victoria, had already moved professionals towards a family support practice model which encouraged the assessment of children's needs rather than intervention to protect. This trend was vastly accelerated on the basis of Laming's recommendations and as a result further tragedies were not only predictable but inevitable. Following Laming's report, the government used the findings to justify a policy shift away from the proactive protection of a few children at high risk of harm to intense state surveillance of every child and family though technology and broad based strategies to address child concerns. The language of protectionWith the subsequent launch of the Every Child Matters agenda, the phrase "children at risk" gained new meaning. Children were now defined as at risk of becoming future criminals, rather than victims of abuse, and professional attention was diverted away from the investigation of child abusers and their criminal activities. A set of five outcomes included the ill-defined "staying safe" and the language of protection became almost obsolete.In BBC Radio's File on Four last week Laming was questioned about numbers of recent child death tragedies where professionals had placed the needs of adults over and above those of the children, had not responded to allegations of serious child abuse and had failed to implement child protection protocols.
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