Tim Hobbs

Interview with Lord Laming Reflections on the future of children's services in England and Wales

Like most western developed countries, there have been inquiries in England and Wales from time to time into the deaths of children who have been under the watch of social services or other agencies. These cases have led to significant reforms and contributed in part to the Children Act 1989, landmark legislation that has defined the states involvement in the lives of children in England and Wales. The case of Victoria Climbie was particularly distressing. Born in the Ivory Coast, Victoria died just over eight years later from 128 separate injuries after being bound hand and foot in plastic bags and placed in a cold bath in an unheated bathroom, where she lay in her own urine and faeces, able to eat only what she could by pressing her face into a plate put beside her. In the 10 months that Victoria lived in England, she was known to seven local government departments, three specialist child protection teams and two hospitals.Herbert Laming chaired the inquiry into her death. His report (Laming, 2003) has underpinned a major overhaul of childrens services. Building on the 1989 legislation, the governments vision for childrens services Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003) and the ensuing Children Act 2004 promise a highly integrated, outcome‐focused approach to all children in England and Wales. In this interview, Lord Laming deals with the problems that led to the death of Victoria Climbie, before covering the contribution of the new legislation and its implications for practitioners, local and central government, inspectors and researchers. He ends with some reflections on the development of childrens services during his involvement over 40 years and in the future. What follows is an edited transcript of Lord Lamings comments.

A dark art comes to the water‐cooler: a review of some key texts on RCTs for children's services professionals and researchers

The need for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to support evidence‐based services to improve outcomes for children is increasingly recognised by researchers and policy‐makers. However, this brings a pressing requirement to build research capacity for conducting RCTs and to address the concerns of practitioners who may be suspicious about the method. This article reviews a variety of texts on the subject, ranging from analyses of the historical and political context of RCTs, to concise introductions of the key methodological and practical issues, to more in‐depth discussions of complex designs and statistics. The article seeks to help readers navigate these resources by focusing on seven questions that seem particularly salient for those considering whether and how to commission, undertake, participate in or use results from RCTs.