Herbert Laming, Lord Laming, who has died aged 89, was the outstanding public servant of his generation in children’s and social care. Few exercised greater influence over the development of English social services over the last quarter of the 20th century, and none commanded greater respect across the political and professional divide. It was therefore no surprise when, following the murder in 2000 of Victoria Climbié, an eight-year-old girl, ministers turned to Laming to chair what became the most consequential child protection inquiry of modern times.
Victoria died after months of sustained abuse at the hands of her great-aunt, Marie-Thérèse Kouao, and Kouao’s boyfriend, Carl Manning. Laming’s inquiry sat for 18 months and exposed profound failures not only in frontline practice, but also in leadership, management and inter-agency communication.
