This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Report into Danielle Reid case
07/03/2006
Child protection inspectors will assess the actions taken by all the agencies involved in the Danielle Reid case to ensure that lessons learned have been acted on.
Following today's publication of the report into the tragedy, Education Minister Peter Peacock has agreed with the Chairman of Highland's Child Protection Committee and with the head of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education that inspectors will assess the action taken by all the agencies designed to address the report's recommendations.
Mr Peacock said:
"This was a truly tragic case. Many lessons have already been learned and changes to local and national systems brought about. However, I have today agreed that child protection inspectors will double check whether there is anything arising from this report which would cause us to take further action - either nationally or locally.
"I have asked inspectors to work on this with the Highland Child Protection Committee as part of a follow up review to their child protection inspection report published in June 2005.
"Because considerable time has elapsed since the original incident, and all the agencies have since been the subject of a child protection inspection, virtually all the report's recommendations are being, or have been, acted on.
"Nationally, we have also taken action as a direct result of this case. The Children Missing Education project, fully established last year, which tracks children as they move between schools or council areas was, in part, a direct response to the Danielle Reid case. Only last week we announced that a unique identifying number will be used to make it easier to transfer records when a pupil moves between schools.
"This report once again highlights that improvements in our child protection systems designed to improve protection for all vulnerable children will only be effective if everyone remains constantly vigilant, works closely together and actively share information with others who need it. That is why the First Minister announced a little over a week ago that we will take steps to require professionals to share information necessary to protect children.
"We have responsibilities to put key policies in place but no Minister can ever offer a 100 per cent guarantee of safety to all our children in all circumstances. Parents and families have clear responsibilities as well as the wider community and professionals - we must all remain vigilant in the interests of protecting children better.
"We are committed to doing everything we can to protect young people. We have already achieved a great deal and have further action planned, but if there is more we can do we will not hesitate to act."
Mr Peacock said new measures had been introduced since the tragedy to tighten procedures, with more due to come onstream soon.
These include:
- Scotland's three year child protection reform programme under which we have established a national framework for standards for child protection, introduced a children's charter and reformed the role of local child protection committees
- Legislation, introduced in January, to allow tough multi-disciplinary child protection inspections, the full programme of which has already started
- The Children Missing Education project, fully established last year, which tracks children as they move between schools or council areas and which was, in part, a direct response to the Danielle Reid case
- The Scottish Candidate Number which makes it easier to transfer records when a pupil move between schools
- A single telephone number through which people can make any concerns about a child known to the right service, to be rolled out across Scotland following a pilot in Grampian last year
- A duty on professionals to share information in order to protect children, to be included in new legislation to further strengthen child protection systems later this year
- A central barring unit to assess all those wanting to work with children, and to bar those who are unsuitable from doing so, to be introduced in legislation to be brought forward this year, and
- National guidance to be issued for consultation very soon on how reviews into any significant incident, especially the death of a child, should be conducted
Further information on the Children Missing Education project is available at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/08/0191408/14154
4 HMIE recently announced the programme for child protection inspections for 2006, following the successful Highland pilot. Further details can be found at: www.hmie.gov.uk/documents/pressrelease/News release - HMIE - child protection inspection - 26 January 2006-a.doc