Local News Stories For Todmorden

Whittaker Must Resign Over Child Abuse Scandal

Calder Valley’s Labour Parliamentary Candidate Steph Booth has told Councillor Craig Whittaker that his position on the council is no longer tenable after clashing at a General Election debate in Hipperholme.

Speaking after a damning report had been issued earlier revealing massive failings in the council’s children’s care services, which has resulted in the deaths of two babies and another child left blind and severely disabled, Mrs Booth said she was shocked that Councillor Whittaker had not even issued an apology.

“Why is it that staff are being suspended and yet the cabinet member for children’s services will not take any responsibility?” she asked. “He has been in post for nearly three years now and has consistently promised to improve this service. Last year, after another scathing report, he told the media he was determined to do things differently. Today’s report shows that things haven’t improved at all. They’ve got worse.”

“He has been in post for nearly three years now and has consistently promised to improve this service.”

The latest report by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that 30 protected children did not even have an allocated social worker, assessments of at risk children were delayed for weeks, protection plans were “hard to decipher” and children and families were left “entirely in the dark” about the purpose of social workers’ activities. It follows three Serious Case Reviews during a spell of 14 months.

Mrs Booth added that she had frequently asked to see evidence of how children’s services were being improved but her questions had been consistently ignored by Councillor Whittaker.

“For the last six months I have been asking Craig Whittaker to make it clear to the public that urgent recommendations, made in December 2008 following another Serious Case Review, have been implemented,” she said. “He has refused to give me any information on this. How can people have confidence in the Council’s ability to protect children when Craig Whittaker’s desk is full of damning reports showing systemic failure?”

Addressing Councillor Whittaker at last night’s packed General Election debate, she said: “How can you say today that you didn’t realise things were this bad? You’ve had warning after warning and you’ve failed to act. Your position is simply untenable.”

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