It has been revealed in today’s Times that the Ofsted report into the death of “Baby P” was altered repeatedly to concentrate blame on Sharon Shoesmith, the director of children’s services. She was later sacked in what was described as “closure” on the case.
Court documents show that investigators from the childcare regulator were instructed to delete certain emails which related to their review of Haringey Council.
These papers throw suspicion on the role that Ed Balls, Children’s Secretary, played in Ms Shoesmith’s sacking. Mr Balls sacked her in December of 2008 using the Ofsted report as his reason. It made her position, he said, “untenable”.
Documents were released yesterday after a legal application by various newspapers which show that the report was rewritten 17 times over 10 days and altered to make it look as if Shoesmith’s leadership was central to the case. During this process, reference to Shoesmith’s achievements were deleted and replaced with passages which talked of “inadequate” leadership and “management failure”.
Shoesmith has always said that she was used as a scapegoat and that the government had to have someone to blame for the tragedy. As it was such a high profile case which evoked strong feelings from the public, it was necessary for the government to look as if it was talking strong and positive action.
The existence of the documents has been a matter for court action. Ofsted at first said that they were not relevant to the case, and then when pressed for them it said that they did not exist (which I would suggest is the wrong way round to do things). Despite not existing they came to light weeks after the hearing ended and the judge was forced to recall the case. They show, according to The Times, that Ofsted was left in no doubt about what Balls wanted.
David Bell, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Children, had told Ofsted inspectors that the report should be “clear in its judgment and attribution of responsibility”. He wanted “definitive evidence
on which the minister can act”. He said that Balls considered it essential that there should be comment on the Baby P case because he wanted “closure on the public debate”. In short he wanted the critical comments on a badly run Labour Council to go away.
Ofsted said that redrafting was a normal part of the process in producing reports and that the changes were made to improve clarity, take account of all relevant evidence and ensure that the final report was coherent.
It is somewhat disturbing to think that the original report, written by people who are in charge of overseeing quality of schools and education, would require to be rewritten 17 times before it could claim to be clear, complete and coherent.
An all English matter I realize, but this man could be the next chancellor which will very definitely affect Scotland.
Court documents show that investigators from the childcare regulator were instructed to delete certain emails which related to their review of Haringey Council.
These papers throw suspicion on the role that Ed Balls, Children’s Secretary, played in Ms Shoesmith’s sacking. Mr Balls sacked her in December of 2008 using the Ofsted report as his reason. It made her position, he said, “untenable”.
Documents were released yesterday after a legal application by various newspapers which show that the report was rewritten 17 times over 10 days and altered to make it look as if Shoesmith’s leadership was central to the case. During this process, reference to Shoesmith’s achievements were deleted and replaced with passages which talked of “inadequate” leadership and “management failure”.
Shoesmith has always said that she was used as a scapegoat and that the government had to have someone to blame for the tragedy. As it was such a high profile case which evoked strong feelings from the public, it was necessary for the government to look as if it was talking strong and positive action.
The existence of the documents has been a matter for court action. Ofsted at first said that they were not relevant to the case, and then when pressed for them it said that they did not exist (which I would suggest is the wrong way round to do things). Despite not existing they came to light weeks after the hearing ended and the judge was forced to recall the case. They show, according to The Times, that Ofsted was left in no doubt about what Balls wanted.
David Bell, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Children, had told Ofsted inspectors that the report should be “clear in its judgment and attribution of responsibility”. He wanted “definitive evidence
on which the minister can act”. He said that Balls considered it essential that there should be comment on the Baby P case because he wanted “closure on the public debate”. In short he wanted the critical comments on a badly run Labour Council to go away.Ofsted said that redrafting was a normal part of the process in producing reports and that the changes were made to improve clarity, take account of all relevant evidence and ensure that the final report was coherent.
It is somewhat disturbing to think that the original report, written by people who are in charge of overseeing quality of schools and education, would require to be rewritten 17 times before it could claim to be clear, complete and coherent.
An all English matter I realize, but this man could be the next chancellor which will very definitely affect Scotland.
