Social workers ‘must have more time with children’
Review into Arthur’s death will look at how to prioritise family contact over ‘distracting’ desk work
A NATIONAL review into the murder of Arthur Labinjo-hughes will aim to release social workers from their desks so they can spend more time with families, The Daily Telegraph understands.
Government sources last night confirmed that the review would assess how personnel could be freed up to ensure they had more contact with children of concern.
It comes after the Children’s Commissioner for England said that social workers must be more “inquisitive” and listen to the “voices of children” after the six-year-old’s death.
Dame Rachel de Souza suggested that social workers were being “distracted” by unnecessary tasks. The former head teacher also suggested that lockdowns had “weakened the system of support”, and urged Boris Johnson not to close schools again, although she acknowledged that Arthur had been visited by professionals.
She added that reforms to education, based on paying more attention to children in the classroom, should be used as a template delivering improvements to the social care system.
Dame Rachel’s concerns were echoed by Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, who said that social services needed to take a “more precautionary approach” and that ministers would look at “what more we can do to read those early signs earlier and better”.
It came as Nazhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, announced a major review into the circumstances which led to Arthur’s murder by his stepmother Emma Tustin at their home in Solihull in the West Midlands.
It emerged in court that the boy, who was abused and assaulted, had been seen by social workers two months before his death, but they concluded there were “no safeguarding concerns”.
This came despite both Arthur’s grandmother and uncle raising concerns about his treatment.
Tustin, 32, was jailed for life at Coventry Crown Court on Friday, with a minimum term of 29 years, after being found guilty of his murder, while his father, Thomas Hughes, 29, was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter.
Arthur’s maternal grandfather, Peter Halcrow, 61, told The Sun his killers should never be freed.
The report will now determine what improvements are needed by the agencies that came into contact with Arthur in the months before he was murdered.
A source close to Mr Zahawi said it would also address the concerns raised by Dame Rachel, telling The Telegraph: “While it’s obviously independent, the review is going to look at ensuring social workers can spend as much time with children and families as possible.”
Separately, Suella Braverman QC, the Attorney General, is reviewing whether the sentences of Tustin and Hughes should be referred to the Court of Appeal on the basis of undue leniency.