Social workers 'were thinking about family not child'

Social workers involved in the Baby P case were not acting in the interests of the child, Children's Secretary Ed Balls claimed today.

"They were not thinking: we must do everything that child needs," he said.

"The evidence seems to be that they were thinking too much about 'what can we do to keep the family together'. The problem in Haringey was that when that was being spotted by the social workers, by the health experts, by the police, they were not then stepping in with the kind of activism which they should have had. There was a discussion with the police and health and the social workers and they decided on the basis of the legal advice not to act." The adults involved in the abuse had used "clear and active deception".

Announcing reforms to strengthen children's boards, Mr Balls added: "We must always say the child must come first - we have got to see the world through their eyes."