Baby P official appeals sacking
By politics.co.uk staff
The woman who lost her job as head of children’s services in Haringey Council over the Baby P affair is appealing against her sacking.
Sharon Shoesmith was removed from her position in December after a damning report was released into her department’s handling of the 17-month-old’s death.
Baby P died in 2007 after suffering sustained abuse at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger.
At the time of his death he was suffering from a broken back, an injury that went unnoticed by a doctor just two days previously. He had also been placed on Haringey’s “at-risk” register and had been visited numerous times by council staff.
A spokesman for the council confirmed that Ms Shoesmith had decided to appeal against the decision to dismiss her.
Children’s secretary Ed Balls removed her office on December 1st but she remained on full pay while her case was considered. However, she was eventually dismissed without any form of compensation.
Shadow children’s secretary Michael Gove said: “There should be no reward for failure in either the public or private sector.
“Rather than compensating the individuals who presided over this tragedy, we should be pursuing those still being paid by the taxpayer who share responsibility for what went wrong.”
The damning report released last month claimed the 55-year-old’s department’s shortcomings “led to a fundamental loss of trust and confidence” in her ability.
