Children at risk 'failed' for 10 years
A SOCIAL services department’s shocking 10-year record of failing the vulnerable children it was meant to protect was exposed in a damning report yesterday.
The inquiry identified failings at every level, including inexperienced staff, muddled processes and lame management.
It was commissioned by Birmingham City Council after inspectors found weaknesses in care for at-risk children in the city last December, and it identified problems that stretched back a decade.
Eight children known to the department have died in recent years, including Khyra Ishaq, seven, of Handsworth, Birmingham, who starved to death in May last year.
The girl’s mother and stepfather are to stand trial for murder early next year.