Elfinsafety – Member

Baby P’s still dead though and she was in charge.

Right, so destroying her career and her character is going to bring Peter back then?

cynic-al – Member

mt – Member
Baby P’s still dead though and she was in charge.

…and you’re still posting and haven’t given it a lot of thought.

I have given it some thought, perhaps you should look past the employment law issue and check out her actions regarding the baby P case.

mt – which are?

What about he doctor who examined the baby befoer he died?

I thought there had been an Ofsted report/rating that gave the service top marks prior to the incident? Are they culpable too? Sacking her was a knee jerk response to cynical tabloid ‘outrage’ imo.

However badly the service may or may not have been run – tragically cases like this will still happen. Some people seem to think you can prevent it completely but it’s just not realistic.

Just because you are at the top does not make you automatically culpable if anything bad happens down the line in your organisation.

So it’s not all CMD’s fault?

mt – my point is about causation – it’s still completely unclear what yours is other than “she was in charge”.

what was her direct input into the case then /decision/inaction?
If she had been personally negligent she could have been sacked WITHOUT looking past employment law.
did those INVOLVED who did get the sack even appeal their sacking?
I dont think they did
It happened or her watch it was not necessarily her fault that some staff were incompetent and made poor judgements – resources/caseloads probably impacted on the staff as well

This thread is restoring my faith in the sensibilities of STW. There’s no doubt it was a tragedy and things should have been done differently, but shafting Shoesmith didn’t right the wrong.

I can remember how ashamed I was to be a labour supporter the day I heard Ed Balls play the Daily Mail card like that. I hope it will have a fraction of the impact on his career that it has had on good and repsonsible senior managers across the public sector.

The council was responsible for appointing her not the government – and the head of the council and another did resign when the Ofsted report was published. Two other staff in the Childrens Service were suspended pending disciplinary proceedings and three more suspended pending investigation. it is even in the the Guardian

Today’s judgement also upheld the findings of the damning Ofsted report. So in my view, she should have gone but it would have be better not to do it on TV and in a more measured way.

I don’t know whether she should have been sacked or not. I know that OFSTED considered her to be an excellent manager when they reviewed her department – isn’t it amazing how they changed their tune after this terrible tragedy! I know that she has the right to a fair hearing, and she hasn’t had one. I know that she didn’t kill baby P, yet has received far more media attention than the baby’s mother.

Mefty

Today’s judgement also upheld the findings of the damning Ofsted report

~What I saw was not that at all tho ofsted claimed that. What I saw was that the report was legitimately written – ie the people writing it were within their authority to do so. No comment at all on the content of the report

The inquiry that followed the Victoria Climbie case recommended that responsibility should rest with the Secretary of State in such cases. The Government accepted this recommendation. This was before the Baby P case.

Ed Balls was the Secretary of State at the time of the Baby P case. When you know that, it seems that he wasn’t just throwing the slavering tabloids a bone. It looks more like he was sacrificing her to create a diversion to save his own neck.

It called for the setting up of a Children’s Commissioner ..is that what you mean by responsibility. I think you are incorrect saying the secretary of state carried the can tbh any reference?

I think you are probably closer to the truth re ofsted report their statement was open to misinterpretation, that said it doesn’t change my view.

Whether Ed balls should have been ultimately responsible or not he is now. He’s done no one any favours by playing to pleb majority. The only good thing that might come out of this is that another politician in a similar position might actually do things the correct way and follow proper process rather than firing from the hip, but I doubt it.

The only good thing to come out of this whole sad, sordid affair is the damage to the career of that odious oxygen thief Balls. The sooner he is forced out of politics and any opportunity for me to ever have to see his vile visage the better.

Those at the top have no reservations when it comes to basking in praise or banking bonuses when things go well.

But when things go wrong they cry foul and deny any responsibility.

She basked in the glory and filled her boots with the firms perks but when it came to accepting her responsibilities she appears to have been more dynamic in protecting her own skin.

This wasnt a case of someone in the team getting drunk, taking a car for a joyride or **** up a purchase order. It was a brutal tragedy which I will never understand why it was allowed to happen.

She should have resigned. But decided to become a victim too.

And, political point scoring aside, those in a similar position should be under no illusion that they are untouchable despite Balls making a balls.