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Baby P review will not be released
21.11.08
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The Government has refused to release a detailed report into the mistakes made by authorities in the Baby P case.
A serious case review was carried out after the little boy died in a blood-splattered cot in Haringey, north London, in August last year.
He had suffered more than 50 injuries at the hands of his abusive mother, her boyfriend and a lodger despite repeated visits by the authorities.
A 15-page summary of the serious case review was published at the end of an Old Bailey trial last week.
But the Information Commissioner has ruled that the full report cannot be made available to opposition MPs because of the risk of identifying the professionals involved, the House of Commons has heard.
There are fears that releasing reports might lead to professionals who make mistakes in child welfare refusing to co-operate with serious case reviews, MPs were told.
Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove acknowledged that Children's Secretary Ed Balls had his hands tied and called for a change to the law.
He asked Mr Balls: "Does he not agree with me that it is quite wrong to put the interests of a bureaucracy which has failed ahead of proper scrutiny?"
The Children's Secretary replied: "I endeavoured to see yesterday whether I was able to release the full confidential serious case review to Parliamentarians.
"But the clear professional advice to me was that would be the wrong thing to do, both given the ruling of the Information Commissioner but also the importance of making sure that in future serious case reviews are done properly."
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Reader views (15)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
What was the fifteen year old girl thinking off, knowing this poor child was being treated like this and he was in such a bad way. Fifteen year olds know right from wrong. She is just the same as the mother, anything to hang onto a boyfriend, and in this case, one old enough to be her father. She should be monitored around children as well, especially if she has any of her own. She could have saved this baby, now she can live with herself.
- Dee, NZ
The decision not to publish was NOT made on the basis of advice from the Information Commissioner. He has stated that he has not been consulted and makes his decisions on a case by case basis.
The decision not to release the report was made by the government lawyers, on the assumption that if they did so and revealed the names of the various staff involved this time, it would make it harder to get frank statements out of staff in any future enquiries.
- Mrs Jackson, London England
There is not justice for this little boy. First of all, no one knows his name. No one knows his killer's names. Than to add, insult to injury, some of the MP's charged with protecting him, are forbidden to read the report outlining what happened with the people charged with protecting him, as well. These laws need changing. None apply here in New Zealand. Just who is this protecting? No one.
- Dee, NZ
