Ofsted report on SCRs stresses importance of listening to voice of child

An Ofsted evaluation of serious care reviews has claimed that the children were not seen frequently enough by the professionals involved nor asked about their views and feelings.

The report, The voice of the child: learning lessons from serious case reviews, also found that practitioners focused too much on the needs of parents – especially vulnerable parents – and overlooked the child’s right to protection.

Other key issues identified as running through many SCRs were:

• agencies did not listen to adults who tried to speak on behalf of the child. In four of the cases reviewed grandparents had reported concerns about the care of their grandchildren but this did not lead to effective action to prevent the serious incident
• professionals were prevented from seeing and listening to children by parents and carers. “Analysis of reviews found that practitioners often failed to make the connection between the difficulties that they themselves experienced when trying to see the child, and the likelihood that children in the family were experiencing stressful and abusive behaviour.”
• agencies did not interpret their findings well enough to protect the child.

The report is Ofsted’s fifth in this area. It looked at 67 serious case reviews carried out between 1 April and 30 September 2010. The cases involved 93 children – of these, 39 died and 54 were involved in serious incidents.

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, said: “It is shocking to see that too often children in vulnerable situations are not heard by those who should be looking out for their interests. That is why this report’s focus on listening to children is so important. The report shares valuable lessons that can help protect children and prevent such tragic incidents.

“I hope all involved in the protection of children will read the report and take stock of the importance of observing and listening to children, using different approaches to encourage children to speak openly and taking account of those who speak on their

A review being led by Professor Eileen Munro is currently considering possible changes to the serious case review process. An interim report by the Munro review has suggested that Ofsted should cease to have responsibility for evaluating SCRs.