Social services worked from home while children they supervised were murdered

The social services responsible for looking after Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson worked from home and carried out “virtual visits” over FaceTime, a review has found.

Both children were fatally abused throughout lockdown at the hands of their parents’ partners and their cases prompted national outrage at the lack of safeguarding in place to prevent their deaths.

In June 2020, six-year-old Arthur was murdered by Emma Tustin, his father’s partner, and was left with “a bruise for everyday of lockdown”, while 20-month-old Star died the following September after a brutal assault by Savannah Brockhill, her mother’s girlfriend.

On Thursday a new review, ordered by Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, in the wake of their deaths, found that in Solihull, where Arthur lived with his father Thomas Hughes and Tustin, some social and family support workers were working from home.

Changes to their working arrangements in light of the pandemic led to a “fragmented” oversight of individual child abuse cases and a “lack of clarity” on social worker accountability, the review said.

Anne Hudson, the chair of the review, also expressed concern at school closures during the pandemic, which meant that Arthur’s teachers had reduced sight on him when he was at his most vulnerable.

In Bradford, where Star lived with her mother Frankie Smith and Brockhill, the social services team was in “turmoil” in 2020, the review said.

While social workers largely carried out face-to-face visits, on one unexplained occasion they conducted a “virtual visit” for Star over FaceTime in June 2020 – three months before the toddler died – despite family members informing the authorities that she had bruises.

The review concluded that “it is not clear why a virtual visit was undertaken rather than a face-to-face home visit”.

“Although there was a discussion with Frankie, and Star was observed to be ‘well dressed and alert [and] to respond to her name over the phone’, a virtual visit limited the opportunity for the social worker to use their observational skills, becoming over-reliant on what they heard from Frankie and what they were shown,” the review said.

It was also noted that the recruitment of social workers in Bradford “became more difficult during the pandemic”, adding: “With staff working from home, it was difficult for managers to induct, support and get to know agency staff joining their teams. Home working limited the opportunities for training and development to support practice improvement.”

The review panel are also understood to be “deeply concerned” about how the evidence of abuse presented by both children’s wider families was easily dismissed.

Concerns about Arthur’s bruising raised by family members were not taken seriously, while for Star, the suggestion that a family member maliciously reported their concerns because they disliked her mother’s same-sex relationship was “too easily accepted”, the review found.

The review also said the role of women in perpetrating abuse may have impacted on how professionals perceived the risk to children, “given societal beliefs about women as caregivers”.

The panel has recommended that the Government set up child protection units in every local area which will be made up of police, healthcare staff and social workers.

In a foreword to the report, chairwoman Ms Hudson said there is too much ambiguity and inconsistency in the current safeguarding system which does not serve children, their families or professionals well.

The panel interviewed just under 80 professionals in Bradford, Birmingham and Solihull, and the children’s family members, including Star’s mother and her partner.

Following the children’s deaths, Tustin was convicted of Arthur’s murder and Hughes of manslaughter, and Brockhill was convicted of Star’s murder while Smith was convicted of causing or allowing her death.