Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Zahawi launches national review into murder of six-year-old
Fiona Simpson
Monday, December 6, 2021
A national review into the death of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes who was killed following a “campaign of cruelty” by his father and stepmother will begin immediately, the Education Secretary has said.
Arthur was pronounced dead at 1am on 17 June 2020. He died from a severe blow to the head, West Midlands Police said.
His stepmother, Emma Tustin, 32, was jailed for life last week over Arthur’s murder.
His father, Thomas Hughes has been convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 21 years.
Following the pair’s sentencing, Nadhim Zahawi announced a local practice safeguarding review, launched by Solihull Council after Arthur’s death, will be upgraded to a national review, led by the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel.
The review aims to establish what improvements are needed by the agencies that came into contact with Arthur in the months before he died, Zahawi said.
Speaking in the House of Commons, he told MPs: "Since the horrendous deaths of Peter Connelly, Daniel Pelka and, sadly, others, the government has established stronger multi-agency working, putting a shared and equal duty on police, councils and health in local areas to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, alongside a role for schools.
"I am sure members across the House will recognise that improvements have been made from previous reviews, but the question now is whether that is enough."
According to reports by the BBC, social workers who visited the boy prior to his death, after being alerted by Arthur’s grandmother, found “no safeguarding concerns”.
The review will “take into account the significance and scale of the circumstances of Arthur’s murder, allowing findings to be disseminated around the country to improve practice and identify the lessons that must be learnt,” the Department for Education said.
Over the next few days the DfE will work with both the National Panel and the Solihull Safeguarding Children Partnership to agree a timeline for publication of the national review, it added.
Social care, police and health services working to protect vulnerable children will also be subject to a joint targeted area inspection by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, and HM Inspectorate of Probation.
Solihull was rated ‘requires improvement’ at its last full inspection by Ofsted in 2019.
A focused visit, carried out by inspectors in August, praised the council's work in ensuring the safety of vulnerable children during the pandemic.
Zahawi said Arthur’s murder had “shocked and appalled the nation”.
“I have taken immediate action and asked for a joint inspection to consider where improvements are needed by all the agencies tasked with protecting children in Solihull, so that we can be assured that we are doing everything in our power to protect other children and prevent such evil crimes.
“We are determined to protect children from harm and where concerns are raised we will not hesitate to take urgent and robust action. We will not rest until we have the answers we need,” he added.
Responding to the announcement of the review, Charlotte Ramsden, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), said: “Whilst ADCS does not comment on individual cases it is important to comment on the child protection system at this sad time. Significant strides have been made in recent decades to help improve our ability to safeguard children; the use of relationship based practice models, our knowledge of effective interventions and the embedding of multi-agency working have all played a role. The creation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel to support the sector to maintain a focus on learning and reflecting on lessons is vital, however there is always more learning to be done.”
At the trial over Arthur’s death, the court heard how Trustin and Hughes inflicted serious assaults on the six-year-old and subjected him to abuse which included being forced to stand in isolation for hours on end and sleep on the living room floor without a mattress.
CCTV recovered from inside the house and audio recordings found on the couple’s phones revealed the child begging for help, saying that he is not being fed and he needs food and a drink.
Experts have commented on the fact that the review is likely to consider the fact that Arthur’s murder took place during the first Covid-19 lockdown amid concerns vulnerable children would be more at risk of abuse.
Ramsden added: “Over the course of the pandemic, local authorities and partners have continued to support all children and families, especially those with the most acute needs. The social restrictions introduced to protect wider public health unfortunately added a layer of extra complexity to what is already an incredibly complex and challenging area of work. Sadly, it is not possible to eliminate all risk.”
A statement from the Association of Child Protection Professionals said: “Arthur’s situation appears to have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and the impact that lock-down restrictions had on vulnerable children and social care services. It happened at a time when services were having to rapidly change the way they worked.
“Taking children like Arthur out of the school routine risked making them invisible to professionals and services and made other possible routes for intervention very difficult to access.”
