Shoesmith win closes a sorry chapter in child protection
Ravi Chandiramani
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sharon Shoesmith's successful appeal that her sacking in the Peter Connelly affair was unlawful should be a welcome boost for the confidence of the child protection system.
Her outward defiance in front of the cameras as the media storm first broke over the tragedy was ill-judged. And yet, as the Court of Appeal ruled last week, she was "scapegoated" utterly by the then Children's Secretary Ed Balls and Haringey Council. Both parties have opted to appeal. They have a right to a fair hearing — something that was denied to Shoesmith.
In her exclusive, in-depth interview with CYP Now six months ago, Shoesmith said that underpinning her case was the issue of public accountability. Indeed, the Court of Appeal has now pointed out that "accountability" is not synonymous with "heads must roll". Let's be clear — malpractice must always be dealt with and, if necessary, people dismissed. The fact that Peter Connelly's abuse was missed by a range of safeguarding practitioners on 60 separate occasions remains inexcusable.
But our child protection system can evolve and improve only if the driving principle is to learn lessons from failings, not to pin blame or indulge in the vilification of certain individuals or certain professional groups, in this case social workers. Unfortunately, an insidious craving for public humiliation still seems to be ingrained in our culture. It helps to sell newspapers. With Peter's abusers unable to be identified at the time, the press directed the public anger that was generated by horrific images of his injuries straight at Shoesmith.
That didn't keep children safe. It damaged the morale of social workers and made the profession seem like a poisoned chalice. Since the November 2008 media storm, many thousands more children have gone into care and become the subject of child protection plans. Often this will have been because professionals have lost the confidence of their judgments and their ability to turn families' lives around.
The Munro Review's vision of moving from a compliance culture to a learning culture is one that should be pursued. It would help restore confidence and sound decision-making in the child protection system. Sharon Shoesmith, in the meantime, appears vindicated.
Ravi Chandiramani, editor, Children & Young People Now
