Chair of the House of Commons’ education select committee Sir Robert Halfon has written to new Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, sharing members’ concerns over whether chief executives at both councils “are best placed to continue to lead and oversee the state of children’s services in both authorities”.
Arthur, six, was murdered by his mother’s partner Emma Tustin, in Solihull, in June 2020. His father was convicted of his manslaughter.
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Star was killed by her mother’s partner Savannah Brockhill, in Bradford, in September 2020. Her mother was convicted of causing or allowing her death.
A national review into the deaths found that while children’s services in Bradford and Solihull had been alerted to concerns of family members in both cases these “were disregarded and not taken seriously enough”.
Solihull leader Nick Page has been in post since 2014 and Bradford chief executive Kersten England since 2015, the letter notes.
It accuses both leaders of “failing to take accountability for the deaths” and says it is “unclear what both chief executives are doing to stabilise and improve both children’s services”.
The letter, which lays out the findings of the committee’s accountability hearing over the deaths, demands the Department for Education and Ofsted assess the progress made at both councils within the timeframes set out by the councils’ leaders, whose response to the murders has been described as “inadequate”.
“We found the responses from both councils inadequate, leaving us extremely concerned as to whether the current leadership of Solihull and Bradford Councils will be able to safeguard other vulnerable children,” Sir Robert Halfon MP, chair of the committee, states.
He also highlights a “clear deterioration” in standards at both children's services, predating the pandemic, under both chief executives' tenures, the letter asks Malthouse to consider whether the leaders are “capable of continuing to try and establish significant change”.
“Whilst the directors of both Bradford and Solihull’s Children’s Services at the time of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson’s deaths have resigned, the chief executives have continued in their roles. This is despite the catastrophic errors of judgement that were made in these cases, and the decline in services more generally,” the letter states.
Following the national review into the deaths Solihull Council is being overseen an independent improvement board while Bradford has formed a children’s services trust following a review by government-appointed commissioner Steve Walker.
Responding to Halfon’s letter, Page said he had acknowledged both the findings of the review and of a joint area inspection into children’s services and partner organisations in Solihull.
He added that Pete Campbell, who is currently assistant director for children and family services at West Berkshire Council, would take up the role of director of children’s services (DCS), replacing interim DCS Tim Browne next month.
Page said: “I understand that people want to see action and that we are making a positive difference to children and young people’s lives in Solihull.
“This is why I am determined to continue to lead our efforts to make the necessary changes, to drive through the recommendations.
“It would be too easy to walk away now, particularly with this level of criticism, however, I honestly feel I am best placed to work with colleagues and partners to address the issues we face.
“This is extremely complex and difficult work that few outside the profession really understand, changing leadership now would be detrimental to the improvement journey we are on.”
A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: “It is a matter of public record that we acknowledge and fully accept the findings of the national panel report which was led by Annie Hudson into the horrific deaths of Star and Arthur.
“As a council we are clear about the actions we need to take to improve services and make sure that children in our district are safe. We are implementing these at pace. We co-operated fully with the DfE’s commissioner-led review which was a thorough appraisal of the challenges that have faced children’s services. The most recent Ofsted monitoring visit, the result of which was published this month, has also highlighted recent improvements in the delivery of services.
“We are currently working well with the DfE and we are making good progress towards establishing the Bradford Children and Families Trust which was a key recommendation from the commissioner’s review.”
In response to the letter the DfE said it had "already intervened extensively" at the councils to "address weaknesses".
"We cannot be complacent when it comes to protecting vulnerable children and will not hesitate to take additional steps to drive swift improvement," it continued.
"We are working on a bold plan for wide-scale reform in children's social care which we will publish later this year,” a spokesman added.
