MP seeks review in Shannon case

9:35am Friday 5th December 2008

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Dewsbury MP and government minister Shahid Malik called for an independent review into the contacts social services had with Shannon Matthews prior to her disappearance in February.

Mr Malik said the review was needed to ensure any lessons were learned from the case but stressed he was not looking for scapegoats or someone to blame.

He was speaking as close scrutiny continued of the role of social workers in Shannon's family.

Mr Malik said: "My gut instinct is that this is not a case like Baby P. But the truth is that we don't know what this actually is. I think the sensible thing is to have an independent review."

Shannon's mother Karen Matthews, 33, was condemned by police as "pure evil" after she was convicted of her daughter's kidnap alongside her co-accused Michael Donovan. A judge told her she faced a substantial jail sentence.

Mr Malik said: "I think, given a lot of the concerns which are being expressed, it is really important that Kirklees Council forthwith initiates an independent review of the Shannon Matthews' case which will look at, for example, are sufficient resources being allocated to child protection in Kirklees, and how can we improve systems and procedures to prevent this kind of thing happening again.

"I have no evidence whatsoever that social services worked in any way other than via the procedures that they have or that they did not have enough resources allocated. But it's important, given where we are, that we have this independent review into this particular case dealing with many of the question marks that are out there."

But he went on: "The scapegoating of social workers across the country is very unedifying and extremely detrimental. Social workers do one of the most difficult jobs in society. I don't mean that I want heads to roll. It's not about blame."

Kirklees Social Services said on Thursday it was limited in what it could say about the Matthews family for legal reasons.

In a statement, Alison O'Sullivan, director for children and young people at Kirklees Council, said that "very important issues concerning the children, the actions and plans of this local authority past, present and proposed will be scrutinised carefully".