Ofsted's chief inspector faces grilling from MPs

The head of education watchdog Ofsted has been giving evidence to MPs about child protection. Christine Gilbert said the organisation is considering introducing a "whistleblower hotline" for social workers in light of the Baby P tragedy. She said the initiative would allow frontline staff to raise any "serious concerns" they had about child safety. It would be in addition to the measures announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls aimed at tightening up child protection services in local authorities. Ms Gilbert told the Commons schools select committee: "We want to make it easier for front-line staff to tell us when things are going wrong. "We are considering the introduction of a confidential whistle-blowers hotline in 2009 for social workers and other frontline professionals to alert us to any serious concerns about practise that fails to ensure the safety and welfare of those they serve." Ms Gilbert told the cross-party group of MPs of concerns raised during Ofsted's recent investigation of child protection services at Haringey Council, which had been requested by Mr Balls. She said: "There were certain procedures which weren't being picked up. "The ideal is you try to see the child alone or have some personal connection with the child during the visit. That is not always possible, in which case it should be recorded as not possible. "It was being recorded four or five times that a child could not be seen. This should have been picked up in supervision, which happens between a social worker and the managers."

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ITN | December 10, 2008

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