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Victoria Climbié 



VictoriaClimbié00

In February 2000 Victoria Climbié died as the result of severe physical abuse and neglect that had spanned several months. She was in the care of her father’s aunt who had brought her to the UK from the Ivory Coast, because her parents had wanted a better life for her.

During the months leading to her death, Victoria was known to 12 different services, which included 4 social services departments, 2 hospitals and 2 child protection teams. None of these agencies took steps to protect Victoria from the torture that led to her tragic death, and they failed to work together to identify the full extent of her abuse.

Lord Laming lead the inquiry into Victoria’s death and his report drew several conclusions.

Responsibility for the welfare of children under the care of an agency rests with the senior management. Ignorance is not an excuse and blaming junior staff is not acceptable.

Communication between professionals dealing with the welfare of children must be formalised to ensure that a full case history is maintained and that each professional has the relevant information available.

A legislation change is required to allow adequate information to be held without contravention of the Data Protection Act or the Human Rights Act, which currently inhibit data sharing for children that are not classified as requiring protection.

Recommendations that specifically effect information sharing include:
  • Collection of basic information on the first contact with each child. This includes name, address, age, name of primary carer, GP and school where applicable.
  • Training should be undertaken to ensure inter-agency working practices are in place.
  • Government to issue guidelines on impact of Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act on data sharing.
  • Government to investigate creation of a national children’s database.
  • A single electronic database must be used by all agencies that work with children.
  • Before visiting a child, a social worker must check the information known about the child by other protection agencies. This implies the existence of a central case file.

Further Information 

• BBC News
• Official Inquiry Web Site
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