New Climbie council scandal

The council at the centre of the Victoria Climbie scandal has employed 18 convicted criminals in its social services department.

Today, the borough was warned it was "gambling" with the safety of children and undermining public confidence in the criminal records checking system.

The scandal emerged in documents leaked to the Evening Standard which showed how, in the past three years, 35 people with criminal convictions had applied for jobs in the social services department.

"There were grounds to proceed with 18 of these job offers," read a letter from the Labour councillor who is cabinet member for social services in the borough.

The appointments were personally approved by the council's ?100,000-a-year director of social services, Anne Bristow, on the recommendation of senior social services managers.

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