Other children’s social services cases need to be re-examined at the local authority where a toddler was murdered by her stepdad, the chairwoman behind a review into her death has said.
Two-year-old Lola James was murdered by her mum’s boyfriend, Kyle Bevan, 32, of Haverfordwest, in July 2020.
Bevan was given a life sentence last year and her mother, Sinead James, 31, also of Haverfordwest, was found guilty of causing or allowing the youngster’s death and given a six-year jail term.
A child practice review by the Mid and West Wales Safeguarding Children Board published on Thursday found that social services had closed Lola’s case, in a way that was branded “unorthodox”.
It showed that a report on Lola had not been completed by the social worker named on it, and it was instead created and closed by a team manager in March 2020, a month after it was dated.
It was also found to be “lacking in detail and analysis”.
Emma Sutton KC, who led the review, said other cases overseen by social services at Pembrokeshire County Council should now be re-examined.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Ms Sutton said: “What became apparent during this process is that Lola’s case was closed down by a team manager.
“It wasn’t closed down by the social worker who was tasked to undertake the assessment, that social worker having gone on leave for various reasons.
“The concern that I had when undertaking the review is that there may be other children whose cases were closed down in that way.
“The local authority has given various assurances that that will be looked at speedily, and there will be an understanding as to whether any other children’s cases were closed in that unorthodox way.”
The board report said the named social worker had “not anticipated” that her assessment would be closed by her supervisor while she was off sick.
It also said the consequence of the case being closed is that an assessment of Lola’s needs was not properly undertaken, branding the practice as “not appropriate”.
Ms Sutton added: “I don’t know how many cases they’re going to look into, but certainly around the time period of Lola’s case.
“It’s a matter for them how they take on board that recommendation, but it needs to be done, and it needs to be done as quickly as possible.”
Pembrokeshire County Council has been contacted for comment.
Responding to the report, Pembrokeshire County Councillor Tessa Hodgson, cabinet member for social care and safeguarding, said the authority was using the review as a chance to reflect on its practices and to learn from its observations.
She insisted that an action plan to deal with the issues was already being implemented with a social care improvement board being established.
She said: “We hope also that the report, will contribute to wider ongoing learning and improvement in relation to a number of key safeguarding issues across all agencies with safeguarding responsibilities in the West Wales region and beyond.
“It is imperative that we take all opportunities to improve our services, and ensure that children and families receive the best quality of support available.”
Following the report, Dr Altaf Hussain MS, Welsh Conservative shadow minister for social care said improving childcare in Wales must be a “top priority”.
He said: “The Welsh Conservatives renew our calls for a Wales-wide children’s services review, involving every council, to improve outcomes and to avoid tragic cases such as Lola James’.”
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