"The SNP`s controversial Named Persons scheme `did nothing` to protect murdered tot Liam Fee, campaigners claim."
"Liam is the latest youngster to die despite having a state appointed guardian and also being known to social services."
"Liam`s childminder, nursery manager and family friends raised concerns with social workers on several occasions, while his health visitor - his Named Person under the scheme then being trialled by Fife Council - discussed her fears with the family GP."
"Despite all these warning signs, Liam`s case dropped `off the radar` when the social worker overseeing it went off sick on April 1, 2013."
"Just weeks before Liam`s death on March 22 2014, another two-year-old, Clyde Campbell, died of cot death in Inverness."
"He was repeatedly neglected by his mother Amanda Hardie and Highland Council also had the Named Person scheme in place at the time."
"The cases follow a number of other tragic deaths of youngsters in Scotland, including three-year-old Mikaeel Kular who was also know to social workers in Fife and Edinburgh before he was killed by his mother in January 2014."
===========
"After the guilty verdicts, Dougie Dunlop, vice chairman of Fife Child Protection Committee, said the review would reflect `to see whether there is any scope for improvement`."
And from the Times which asks the pertinent questions:
ReplyDelete"Scotland`s child protection system is undergoing a sea change with new legislation that will lead to every child in the country being allocated a `named person` who will have a legal status with regard to ensuring that child`s wellbeing. A pilot for that scheme was in operation in Fife when Liam was killed. It is therefore reasonable - necessaary even - to ask why the new structures, which come into force across Scotland on August 31, did not help to prevent Liam`s appalling death."
"The new system will cover all children, not only those about whom concerns have been raised by health, education and social work professionals. Hundreds of new health visitors are being recruited to help with the new workload and paperwork. A key aim is to identify children at risk who are not already under scrutiny."
"Yet of all the children in Scotland who, since the turn of the century have died at the hands of those who were meant to be caring for them, not one was unknown to social services. All were in the system. The problem was not bringing them into the system. The problem was getting the system to work..."
"It seems a resonable qustion to ask as we try to ensure there are no more deaths like the one suffered by Liam Fee: shouldn`t social workers be left to deal with the cases that cause concern? Shouldn`t they be helped to get a proper grip of them, rather than be deluged with new information about the vast majority of children who are brought up in a loving home? Are we in danger of making social workers` jobs even harder?"