Saturday 12 September 2009

Tabloids target Hackney

News of the World says Hackney social services returned kids to a squalid home hours after their mother was arrested by the The Met's Child Abuse Investigation Command who stumbled on the Hackney flat by accident:

This week the youngsters were taken into police protection and the mother arrested. On Tuesday she was cautioned for neglect and the case handed to social services. Within hours they RETURNED the children to the flat, which they said had been cleaned up.

Figures given in the story from East London's Child Abuse Investigation Command show that its case load is up by 2/3 on last year.

Last week the east London cop squad, covering Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets, were dealing with 300 live cases. This time last year it was around 180.

But how likely is it that the quality of East London parenting has become 70% worse in the space of a year? Is this Baby P panic? Next week Hackney's Cabinet Agenda reports pack includes a financial update showing that childrens' services are still feeling the pressure.

Page 137: In summary, the service is experiencing caseload pressures in both Access and
Assessment (A&A) and Children in Need (CIN) resulting in increased levels of agency staff.
The former relates to increased anxiety in the partnership following the recent high-profile case in a neighbouring borough.

The Mail on Sunday savages funding won by Arcola Theatre's dance troupe - claiming that £240k has been spent on the project which should have gone to the third world.

Other news:

This may be old news but Hackney Council is looking for construction managers to take on Haggerston Baths with a 21 Sept deadline for bids.

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