Legal experts "not used appropriately" in child protection conferences in British 'Fritzl' case: report

Medical and legal experts were not used appropriately to increase the body of knowledge at child protection conferences in the so-called British ‘Fritzl’ case, an independent report has said.

The report’s author, Professor Pat Cantrill, recommended that Sheffield and Lincolnshire’s Local Safeguarding Children Boards review guidance in relation to child protection conferences and strategic meetings to ensure that specialised services such as geneticists and legal experts attend as required in the decision-making process.

Public sector agencies in Sheffield and Lincolnshire made unreserved apologies yesterday to Family Q for failing to protect them from their father who repeatedly raped, physically and sexually abused them over three decades.

The local authorities and police and health organisations also gave assurances that changes in safeguarding systems, process and practices now better protect families from abuse.

The recommendation on the use of legal experts was one of 128 made in the report, including eight national recommendations, for improving understanding, practice, procedures and training into intrafamilial abuse.

The report said Sheffield and Lincolnshire LSCBs should review their policies, practices and training strategies to better address issues associated with a range of areas, including: assessment; genetics; working with disengaged or hostile families; monitoring the progress of families in safeguarding situations; the management of information within and between agencies and by individual health professionals; and the legal and professional position of disclosure/confidentiality of patient/client.

Other local recommendations include:

• Reviewing the retention and transfer of records, policies and practice across agencies to establish consistency
• Reviewing the systems in place and the training provided to support leadership throughout partnership organisations and the establishment of internal as well as external networks in relation to safeguarding children and young people, and
• Raising awareness among practitioners of the need to escalate concerns to managerial level if they believe that the network in a child protection case is stuck and failing to take the necessary action to protect a child.

The report called on the Department of Children, Schools and Families to consider, amongst other measures, guidance that “addresses the challenges of working with families which are difficult or resistant to engage or hostile”.

Prof. Cantrill said: “The purpose of a Serious Case Review is to establish what happened, highlight deficiencies in services and put them right and learn lessons to minimise the risk for another child. Whilst there are lessons to be learned to the point of disclosure, which was handled well, the women want to encourage other individuals in similar circumstances to come forward and seek help.”