Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Report in wake of boy's death finds Solihull children in need wait too long
The report looks into safeguarding services in the borough following the six year old's death
Last updated 21st Feb 2022
A report into Solihull Council's safeguarding services for children has found some of them who need help and protection are waiting too long.
It also found the council makes "over-optimistic" decisions on safeguarding in a significant minority of cases which 'lack professional curiosity'.
The inspection was not about the circumstances of the six year old's death, that is being dealt with by a National Panel Review ordered by the Secretary of State for Education, but a focus on how organisations in Solihull work together to prevent harm to children and young people in the area.
The report into multi-agency responses to children at risk in Solihull was carried out by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, and the Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales, after the death of six year old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in Solihull in June 2020.
He suffered an 'unsurvivable' brain injury at his home in the borough, with his step-mum and dad both serving jail terms for his death.
The boy had been seen by social workers just two months before his death, but they concluded there were no safeguarding concerns.
As the report continues, it also says West Midlands Police "need to take urgent action" to improve the information held on their database about children and families. Inspectors saw examples of separate records for the same person because their name had been spelt incorrectly, while children had not been linked on the system to family relatives who could pose a risk to them.
"Too many children in Solihull face drift and delay"
In one case, inspectors reviewed the records for one young child who was not linked to her father in the system, despite his history of domestic abuse and drug use and the fact he is subject to a non-molestation order.
"Consequently, a domestic abuse incident the child was exposed to, involving her father, does not appear on her 'Connect' record. It also means that when officers conduct searches on the system, it is not obvious that the man poses a significant risk to her," the letter says.
The Local Safeguarding Children Partnership in Solihull is under-resourced, meaning that "too many children in Solihull face drift and delay" before services intervene to protect them, the report added. Attempts to improve a lack of social workers in the area also had "limited impact".
"These difficulties were compounded by concerns raised following the court case for the murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in early December 2021, which made social workers highly reluctant to work in Solihull either on a permanent or agency basis," the report says.
It adds that the current workforce is "committed and knowledgeable and dedicated to meeting the needs of children" but that they face "immense pressure" to meet daily demands and that this "reduces their ability to respond swiftly to all concerns for children".
The report calls for agencies in Solihull to send a written statement of action to Ofsted by May 30 2022.
Solihull Council says it has already begun improvement work.
This inspection took place from 10 to 14 January 2022.
On behalf of the Solihull Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP), Independent Scrutineer Steve Cullen, said:
“The Solihull Local Safeguarding Children Partnership brings together the Local Authority, Police and Health, together with other relevant organisations, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in the local area. The Solihull Partnership acknowledges and accepts the findings of the recent Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) which was undertaken following the tragic murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes by the very people who were meant to love and care for him.
“It is clear from the findings of the Joint Targeted Area Inspection published today, and following the analysis by organisations of their local practice, that there are areas that need to improve. The Partnership needs to better understand the lived experiences of children in Solihull and individual organisations need to make improvements to the way that they respond to children – we haven’t waited until the report to do this, work has already begun.
“The Local Authority has established a multi-agency Improvement Board with an independent chair to drive forward the necessary changes. This Board will support, oversee, and importantly challenge partner organisations with responsibility for safeguarding children on their progress in making the necessary improvements.
“We are pleased that the inspection team highlighted the commitment and knowledge of staff within the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and recognised their dedication to meeting the needs of children in Solihull.
“The inspection team also recognised the immense pressure that staff are under and all the safeguarding partners have worked together to increase the number of staff working within the MASH to ensure that children are protected in a timely and speedy manner.
“On behalf of the safeguarding partners I want to provide assurance that we have taken on board all of the comments from the inspectors and we committed to work together to improve the way we protect children in Solihull and to do everything we can to ensure positive outcomes for our children and young people.”