Paul Ennals to chair Haringey child safeguarding board

The position is one of the highest profile child protection roles in England since the death in the London borough of Peter Connelly in August 2007 led to a national review of the child protection system.

Ennals takes over on 13 May from Graham Badman, who was appointed to the role in the aftermath of the Baby Peter case. Since the Baby Peter case, child protection in the borough has continued to come under the spotlight.

Last October, a serious case review carried out by Haringey LSCB into the abuse of a toddler – referred to as Child T – was critical of poor communication and management across agencies.

Ennals said: “The work of a safeguarding board is about helping organisations to work effectively together, and holding each other to account.

“All the agencies working within Haringey face similar budget challenges, but they have shown me their real determination to pool their efforts in order to keep children safe.

“There is an optimism in the area now that the challenges all the agencies faced in past years may be largely behind them, and that the years ahead will see evidence of further improvements.”

Ennals was NCB chief executive between 1998 and 2011, and chaired the Children’s Workforce Development Council from 2008 to 2012.

He was also vice-chairman of the government's National Advisory Group on Special Educational Needs from 1997 to 2001, and chair of the Council for Disabled Children from 1993 to 1998. 

Ennals was knighted in the 2009 Birthday Honours for services to children and young people. More recently, he has served as interim strategy director at deafblind charity Sense.

On the challenges ahead in Haringey, Ennals added: “The children and young people of Haringey should expect that local agencies are as effective as possible in keeping them safe.

“Safeguarding is everybody’s business, not just paid professionals, and I look forward to working with all parts of Haringey’s community to help our young people thrive and prosper.”