‘Immediate action’ needed to improve children’s social care following murders

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“Immediate action” is needed to improve children’s social care following the murders of Star Hobson and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes to prevent more from coming to harm, care leaders have warned.

A landmark strategy to fix the sector was launched by the government on Thursday but care chiefs said it did not go “far or fast enough” to help at-risk children now.

Under the new proposals, up to 12 councils will be chosen to participate in a £45m two-year trial that would make it easier for families who raise concerns about vulnerable children to access support.

The local authorities will be tasked with setting up services especially for families, such as a helpline or walk-in centres, and the most successful ideas will then be rolled out across the country.

Care sector leaders have welcomed the proposed future plans but said that they do not “tackle the crisis that children’s social care faces right now”.

“There is urgent need for immediate action”, councillor James Jamieson, chairman of the Local Government Association, said. Sir Peter Wanless, CEO of the NSPCC, said that the whole government should “get behind delivering significant and meaningful change now”.

The plan is in response to three recent reviews into the children’s social care sector; one of which found that relatives’ warnings were “too often” disregarded by local services.

In the case of 16-month-old Star Hobson, her family warned social workers that she would be “another Baby P” and said that “little Star’s going to finish up in a star in the sky”.

The young girl was beaten to death by Savannah Brockhill, her mother’s girlfriend in September 2020. Her mother Frankie Smith was also found guilty of causing or allowing her death.

In the case of Arthur, his paternal grandparents raised concerns with authorities about his bruising in April 2020. Less than two months later Arthur died after sustaining an “unsurvivable brain injury” while he was at home with his father’s partner Emma Tustin in the West Midlands.

The government strategy aims to put families at the heart of reform and plans to invest £200m over the next two years. Other proposals include a £25m recruitment and retention drive for foster carers and investing £9m in kinship care.

Former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield told The Independent: “In these 12 pilot areas there probably is enough incentive to help these families, but that’s 12 areas in the country and there are hundreds of local authorities.”

She added: “[The government’s] proposals are not yet ambitious enough to meet the enormous scale of the challenges facing the system, and the funding still falls well short of the long-term investment that is so desperately needed.”

Josh MacAllister, the author of the Independent Review into Children’s Social Care, told The Independent that there was an £800m shortfall between the amount of funding pledged by the government in the next two years and the amount recommended by the review.

“The strategy is a very welcome change in direction but it’s not going far or fast enough,” he said. “I know we could be faster with the pilot and see that improvement in many more areas than just 12.”

Cathy Ashley OBE, chief executive of Family Rights Group, said: “The Independent Review projected that the number of children in care in England will top 100,000 by 2032 without a significant change of course. Today’s announcement does not provide that.”

The review had also recommended that the UK become the first country in the world to make care experience a protected characteristic, but this suggestion has been dropped by the government.

Campaigner Terry Galloway said he was “appalled that the government are ignoring the care experienced voice” and failing to consult on this recommendation.

Author and care leaver Chris Wild, who worked on the review, said that the strategy contained “nothing for young people aged 16-18.” He warned: “The amount of young people who leave care at 18 and end up on the streets is sickening and all because there is no legal protection or obligation to continue caring for this vulnerable group. Making care experience a protected characteristic would have been life-changing and life-saving for young people in the care sector.”

Minister for children, families and wellbeing, Claire Coutinho, said: “Children in care deserve the same love and stability as everyone else. Yet we’ve seen from the two tragic murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson that more needs to be done to protect our most vulnerable children.

“Our wide-ranging reforms will put strong relationships at the heart of the care system.”