Sir – Last week you referred to former Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell’s blog, in which he criticises police and social workers for lateness in intervening in the Oxford child abuse case, speculating on “political correctness” (by which he seems to imply, without a shred of evidence, that non-white people were not pursued as actively for misconduct as white people).
The Government’s statutory guidance on child protection places responsibility for child protection on chief officers and the lead member but with ultimate responsibility resting with the leader of the council.
Keith Mitchell and the lead member for children’s services, Louise Chapman, were responsible for child protection procedures throughout handling of this tragedy during 2005 to 2012.
Unlike the chief constable and chief executive, these politicians have remained silent and have not expressed regret nor apologised for the lateness of Oxfordshire County Council in identifying and acting on the child abuse. Mitchell says of the abuse in his blog my “knowledge of this while I was Leader is not large” (sic).
This is a shocking self-confessed indictment of failure in the political leadership of child protection during Mitchell’s tenure. No doubt the serious case review will examine this failure.
Polly Foster, Fritwell
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