The Key elements of the Lamming report

At least 200,000 children live in households with a high risk of abuse.


1. Firstly we need a family law that is fair and just.
2. Equal Parenting needs to be the norm where dads as well as mums, even if they live apart
have a say in bringing up children.
3. Parental alienation needs to be frowned upon by everyone and incur heavy penalties.
4. The Charter for Grandchildren needs to be mandatory for professionals working in
children’s welfare to ensure children do not lose out on the benefits grandparents can offer.
5. Mediation should be promoted more to prevent molehills becoming mountain.
6. Social services need to be more open and truthful and answerable to the law if not.
7. Accusations not proven should be removed from records.
8. False accusations should be punishable by law.
9. All meeting to be recorded to eliminate inaccuracies.
10. Using children for revenge or blackmail should be punishable by law.


Social workers trying to protect them (children) feel demoralised and unsupported.

1. Social workers have too big a case load and are making too many mistakes to reach their targets.
2. Better education and better liasion with senior management who appear to be naïve of what happens on the shop floor.
3. The welfare of children is run like a business ‘cost befor care’ and this very cold attitude is not in the best interests of childre.

In many areas they spend too much time on inadequate IT systems and too little time seeing children.

1. On the job experiences cannot be beaten.
2. Seeing the trauma of young children indistressshould be enough to soften even the hardest hear. but when it is the case of rush in with twenty armed policemen to snatch 8 children nobody care about the didtress of the child.
New recruits deal with complex cases without adequate training and supervision.
1. I know someone who had a friend that trained as a social worker but died within 6 months and is was claimed lack of training and stress was a big part of his death.

Police child protection teams are under-resourced and have low status.

What this really means, we do not know. The last paragraph explains how they go about it. I have it from a granny that had full PRRs over her grandson but the police waded in and bodily dragged the 14 year old back to his mother on her say so. Methinks the police are well qualified.

It can take 45 weeks to bring a child protection case to court.

An absolute scandal! That amount of time destroys a childs stability, identity and the will to be a human being . Having to suffer being told your family does not want you any more just to prepare them for adoption.

The government should provide child protection training for council leaders and senior managers.

Of coarse, that is the main problem, the higher staff havn’t a clue what goes on with their social workers. I have a nice letter from Edinburgh Council; explaining their policy. It is nothing like what happens in practice.

Social workers' employers should face disciplinary action over child protection failures.

Aggreed. Social workers should face the law for falcifaction of records but so should the directors for neglect of duty.

A national agency should be set up to oversee the swift and effective implementation of these recommendations.

More money being thrown in the wrong place. The governmennt is admitting here it cannot cope with it’s own organisations. Order them to do the job right or face the consequences of losing their job or prosecution. That will make them sit up and take notice. Listen to the people when they are crying out to you for justice or is that dropping your standards too far.