Interview with Lord Laming Reflections on the future of children's services in England and Wales

Abstract

Like most western developed countries, there have been inquiries in England and Wales from time to time into the deaths of children who have been under the watch of social services or other agencies. These cases have led to significant reforms and contributed in part to the Children Act 1989, landmark legislation that has defined the state's involvement in the lives of children in England and Wales. The case of Victoria Climbié was particularly distressing. Born in the Ivory Coast, Victoria died just over eight years later from 128 separate injuries after being bound hand and foot in plastic bags and placed in a cold bath in an unheated bathroom, where she lay in her own urine and faeces, able to eat only what she could by pressing her face into a plate put beside her. In the 10 months that Victoria lived in England, she was known to seven local government departments, three specialist child protection teams and two hospitals.Herbert Laming chaired the inquiry into her death. His report (Laming, 2003) has underpinned a major overhaul of children's services. Building on the 1989 legislation, the government's vision for children's services Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003) and the ensuing Children Act 2004 promise a highly integrated, outcome‐focused approach to all children in England and Wales. In this interview, Lord Laming deals with the problems that led to the death of Victoria Climbié, before covering the contribution of the new legislation and its implications for practitioners, local and central government, inspectors and researchers. He ends with some reflections on the development of children's services during his involvement over 40 years and in the future. What follows is an edited transcript of Lord Laming's comments.

Citation

Hobbs, T., Kaoukji, D. and Little, M. (2006), "Interview with Lord Laming Reflections on the future of children's services in England and Wales", Journal of Children's Services, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 58-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200600007