Apparently the Serious Case Review into the death of Daniel
Pelka will not be available until September. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-23349527
Nobody should be in any doubt that this is an extremely
worrying case. Early indications are that the school, health and other
professionals were involved, but there is no mention of child protection
enquiries having been initiated, even though the child is described as looking
terrible and searching bins for food.
There are echos of Khyra Ishaq’s tragic death, another child
about whom the school had serious concerns and who was being starved at home. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/8512503.stm
I think having to wait until September for an SCR is an unacceptable
option. I have for a long time been in favour of having an inspectorate (not
Ofsted) which is capable of moving rapidly into a local authority in
circumstances like these and finding out without delay the early indications of
what has gone wrong.
That’s what happens when the Air Accident Investigation
Branch deals with an air crash. Their staff members are on site as soon as it is
safe to begin an examination of the wreckage. And anything they learn which
needs to be communicated to make other planes safe is disclosed at the earliest
possible moment.
I have a dreadful sinking feeling about this terrible
tragedy of Daniel Pelka. It has all the hallmarks of a case in which dreadful
failures have occurred.
