Climbie: Lessons must be acted upon

The central recommendations of the report are virtually identical, prompting people to question whether the basic lessons will ever be learned.

A little girl died after being starved and beaten by those who were supposed to love her.

Despite being under local authority supervision, the social services, council, police and NSPCC failed to spot the horrors within her home in time to prevent the tragedy.

A subsequent inquiry into the horrendous cruelty found none of those tasked with protecting her were talking to each other.

But despite individual mistakes, it was decided that ultimately it was the system which failed.

It all sounds chillingly familiar, but this investigation had nothing to do with eight-year-old Victoria Climbie.

It took place exactly 30 years ago.

Seven-year-old Maria Colwell was starved and battered to death by her step father, William Kepple, at their home in Whitehawk, Brighton, in January 1973.

The two cases are uncannily similar. Both went beyond their communities and shocked the nation.

In both, after initial reluctance, the authorities bowed to public pressure and held a public inquiry.

But most worrying is the similarity between the two inquiries' findings.

The 1974 report said the authorities "entirely failed" to supervise Maria for six crucial months between June and December 1972, in spite of a supervision order.

The inquiry found there had been a prolonged series of involvements in Maria's welfare but none of those supposed to be looking after her shared the information which could have pieced together a picture of the full horrors going on behind the closed doors of her home.

Teachers at Whitehawk Junior School, the school welfare officer, social workers and the NSPCC knew some of the facts of the case but no one completed the jigsaw.

This week, Lord Laming's report into Victoria Climbie's death similarly condemned everyone involved in her care.

Four social service departments, two housing departments, two police child protection teams, a consultant paediatrician, the NSPCC and a church pastor were among those involved.

But there was a "catalogue of administrative, managerial and professional failure by the services charged with her safety".

The report concluded: "Not one of the agencies empowered by Parliament to protect children in positions similar to Victoria's, funded by the public purse, emerge from the inquiry with much credit."

Victoria's death was called "a gross failure of the system and inexcusable."

In the years since Maria's death, the rules have been tightened and many experts say they are among the best in the world.

Barry Luckock, a lecturer in social work and policy at the University of Sussex, warned against claims the system remained fundamentally flawed. It was not, he says.

He said: "The child protection laws, systems and procedures are essentially sound."

The problem, said Mr Luckock, was social workers needed more time to do their job properly and less time filling in forms.

He said: "Social work has become a demoralised profession. What they want is to do more work with children and families."

Lib-Dem councillor Jenny Barnard-Langston, a former foster parent, has called for more money to be pumped into Brighton and Hove's social services.

She said no matter how many procedures were in place the most important thing was to make sure they were effective.

She said: "There have been recent child deaths at the hands of carers in Brighton and Hove.

"However we were assured 30 years ago, following the death of Maria Colwell, this must not happen again.

"Yet, since Maria's death, 32 more children have died nationally as a result of abuse by carers. This is a damning legacy for those responsible.

"It it neither realistic or fair to expect our social workers to be meticulous in the care of vulnerable children when they are expected to manage huge case loads."

In September 1991, three- year-old Sophie Merry, from Chichester, was beaten to death by her mother's boyfriend Kevin Strudwick. Doctors found 170 injuries on her body, which was so disfigured the judge refused to show the photos to the jury.

In May 1993, Abena Bowley, from Littlehampton, was sentenced to eight years for the manslaughter of two-year-old Kirsty Bowley, her step-daughter.

In July 1994, Colin Waters was jailed for killing 17-month-old Aaron Dellow, his ex-girlfriend's son.

Aaron, who lived in Montpelier Terrace, Brighton, had 40 bruises on his face and body. His skull was fractured in two places.

On Christmas Eve 1999, in a case that would lead to a campaign by The Argus to cage child killers for murder under the joint enterprise rule, four-year-old John Smith, from Southwick, died.

He had 54 bruises and three adult bite marks on his body among a host of other injuries.

A legal loophole meant his foster parents, Simon and Michelle McWilliam, escap-ed a murder conviction and were jailed for cruelty instead, each receiving an eight-year sentence.

Mr Luckock said a central theme in all child death inquiries since Maria Colwell was still a lack of communication.

Agencies such as police, hospitals and social services still did not talk to each other or share their information well enough.

Even more importantly, they did not communicate with children effectively.

He said: "John Smith is an example. His parents were lying about his injuries. Social workers have got to find ways of making sense of children's experiences.

"Children get lost from sight. Services are very over-stretched because of increased demands and this can lead to social workers spending even more time in the office instead of with the children they are responsible for.

Following the John Smith case, Brighton and Hove City Council set up a child protection team, which holds regular meetings, bringing together schools, health experts, social services and the police.

A spokesman said: "We believe strongly this has improved communications between our child protection teams and schools, where staff may have crucial knowledge about problems individual children are facing."

No one is suggesting these abhorrent cases are not being taken seriously enough.

But there are still clear lessons which have not been learned.