A council has issued an apology after accepting that opportunities to protect tragic tot Star Hobson from terrifying abuse were missed and that action should have been taken to save her.
Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe has apologised to the family of Star, stating that signs of abuse were missed and that action should have been taken.
The 16-month-old toddler, from Keighley, died after enduring months of abuse and torture, Yorkshire Live reports.
Family members had pleaded with the authorities to act.
Bradford Council's chief executive, Kersten England, said that she was "deeply sorry that opportunities to protect her from such cruel and despicable abuse were missed."
Their comments follow a national review into two child deaths - Star Hobson, who was murdered in Keighley by Savannah Brockhill, with Star's mum Frankie Smith found guilty of causing or allowing her death - and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, who died in June 2020 in Solihull after months of abuse.
The review has recommended the creation of dedicated child protection teams made up of police, healthcare staff, and social workers in every local area.
The way child protection is approached in England needs to “change fundamentally”, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel said.
Its national review found that the fatal abuses suffered by Arthur, six, and Star, 16 months, “are not isolated incidents”, but reflective of wider problems with poor information sharing and weak decision-making.
Concerns raised by their wider family members were “too often” disregarded and not properly investigated by police and social workers, the review said.
Professionals were increasingly kept at arms length by those perpetrating the abuse, the report also found.
It recommends dedicated multi-agency teams staffed by experienced child protection professionals be set up in every local authority area to investigate allegations of serious harm to children.
And the Government should establish a national child protection board to better co-ordinate child protection policy.
In a foreword to the report, review chairwoman Annie Hudson said the current safeguarding system is not broken, but there is too much ambiguity and inconsistency which does not serve children, their families or professionals well.
Existing multi-agency safeguarding arrangements “are not yet fit for purpose everywhere” she added.
The review was commissioned in December 2021 by Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi following the deaths of Arthur and Star to look at what could be done to prevent things from going so “horrifyingly wrong” in future.
The panel interviewed just under 80 professionals in Bradford, Birmingham and Solihull; the children’s family members, including Star’s mother and her mother’s partner; and drew on 1,500 rapid reviews of serious incidents since it was formed.
It found that child protection work is inherently complex, but the current system does not give professionals the best opportunity at cutting through this complexity “to get to the truth of what life is like for children”.
It said existing multi-agency arrangements for protecting children are more fractured and fragmented than they should be, and “promising approaches” are implemented patchily across the country.
And it identified a reliance on quickly pulling together a team from overstretched agencies every time there is a child protection concern, which is “certainly inefficient and often ineffective”.
The review noted the importance of challenging assumptions and biases relating to culture, ethnicity, gender and sexuality when safeguarding children.
It said the role of women in perpetrating abuse may have impacted on how professionals perceived the risk to children, “given societal beliefs about women as caregivers”.
In Arthur’s case, the review said a judgment became fixed early on that Thomas Hughes was a “protective father”, which was reasonable at the time but was never challenged when circumstances changed.
Concerns about Arthur’s bruising raised by family members were not taken seriously, while his voice was not always heard and too many assessments relied on his father’s perspective.
For Star, an explanation that concern from a family member might have been malicious and rooted in a dislike of her mother’s same-sex relationship was “too easily accepted”.
The review found that Bradford children’s social care service was “in turmoil” in 2020, with a high turnover of social workers and a high volume of work affecting quality and contributing to assessments that were “too superficial” and did not address repeated concerns from family members.
Ms Hudson said: “Arthur and Star suffered horrific and ultimately fatal abuse. But sadly, whilst their individual stories are unique, many hundreds of children are seriously harmed each year.
“At the moment, each professional who comes into contact with a child holds one piece of the jigsaw of what is happening in a child’s life.
“Our proposed reforms would bring together experts from social work, police and health into one team so that they can have a better picture of what is happening to a child, listening carefully to relatives’ concerns and taking necessary actions to protect children.”
Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said Arthur and Star’s deaths “have left a lasting scar on the nation”.
He said: “It is heart-breaking that it had to take these tragedies to shine a light on the shortfalls in the child protection system.
“Now, we must ensure the memory of Arthur and Star acts as a catalyst for the fundamental changes necessary to prevent further deaths.
“This review lays bare an all-too-familiar story of a system struggling to cope. Social workers, police, health practitioners and teachers, however hard they are working as individuals, know they cannot do this alone.”
Statement from Marium Haque, Strategic Director of Children’s Services at Bradford Council
"The murder of Star was devastating for our community. It is something that no one involved in protecting children ever wants to happen.
"The National Panel review sets out some very clear guidance on what we need to do across organisations to strengthen our child protection procedures.
“The review explores issues and identifies areas that we have already taken action on. But we will continue to work closely with our staff, local organisations like the police and health, and the National Panel to make sure that everyone involved in keeping children safe fully understands the recommendations and where we still have more work to do to improve.
“We are working alongside the Government appointed Children’s Commissioner to make significant changes in how social workers work in our district. We are in the process of setting up a Children’s Trust which will deliver further changes we need to make at pace to make sure children in our district are safer.”
Statement from Kersten England, chief executive of Bradford Council
“The murder of Star Hobson was horrific and distressing and I am deeply sorry that opportunities to protect her from such cruel and despicable abuse were missed.
“Our thoughts are, and always will be, with those who loved her.
“The expert report is tough to read but it is absolutely essential that we understand in detail what went wrong. I accept its findings and assure everyone that firm action has been and will continue to be taken to strengthen our child protection processes and help prevent a tragic case like this from happening again.
“As the report makes clear, the cases of Star and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes highlight many of the problems facing children’s social care nationally. I know colleagues up and down the country will be looking at the report to ensure all the lessons are learned from these heart-breaking losses of young lives.”
Statement from Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council
"The murders of Star and Arthur were truly horrific and should not have happened. On behalf of the Council I want to say sorry to Star’s family that signs were missed and that we did not take the action we should have. Rightly both cases have now been scrutinised at a national level and the learning and recommendations will therefore have, not just local, but national significance.
"The review is very clear about the national change needed to strengthen the way in which local councils, the police, education, and health services work to keep children safe. In Bradford, we are fully committed to implementing the findings of this review so that those who work to protect our children can do so in the most effective way possible.
"We are working closely with the Government to set up our Children’s Trust to continue improving the service for children. Star and Arthur’s lives were cruelly cut short. It is vital that the report into their murders leads to real change that prevents crimes like these being committed in the future.”
Statement from Janice Hawkes, Independent Chair of The Bradford Partnership – Working Together to Safeguard Children
“On behalf of the Bradford Partnership, I want to say first and foremost that Star’s death in such awful circumstances should not have happened and that we are truly sorry that it did. We know agencies let Star down and we must put things right.
“The publication of this thorough and detailed independent review outlines very clearly the opportunities that we missed locally to better protect Star. We have already put in place steps to tackle this but we recognise that there is still work to do and as a partnership we are entirely committed to improving the safety of children across Bradford.
“The report acknowledges, as every social worker, health professional, police officer, and front-line practitioner knows, how complex and challenging working in child protection can be. I welcome the National Panel’s recommendations in asking that government put in place a more up-to-date approach with experts from police, health and social work in dedicated teams working together in every local area.
“As the new Chair of the Bradford Partnership, I am absolutely committed to making sure we do everything in our power to strengthen how we keep children safer in our district. But this report is also about steps that we must take nationally to strengthen our approach to children’s safeguarding. We owe this to Star, Arthur and their families as well as every child up and down the country.”
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