Every Child Matters: history of Every Child Matters

Victoria Climbie was 8 years old when she died in 2000. She had suffered abuse and neglect that included being left for days on end in a bath tub, hands tied behind her back, sleeping in her own excrement. The pathologist stated that there were 128 separate injuries on Victoria’s body and that no part of her body was spared. Victoria’s aunt, Marie Therese Kouao and her boyfriend Carl Manning were convicted of her murder. In 2003 Lord Laming lead an independent review into the events leading to Victoria’s death. His report stated that there were 12 different occasions where there was an opportunity to save Victoria. The family were known to four different local authority social service departments, two hospitals, two police child protection teams and a family centre. In short, Victoria slipped through the net between services. From the Laming report the government’s Every Child Matters Green Paper was compiled in 2003. However, the changes build on much of the research and thinking of policies the government had been developing over recent years. Therefore, the policy was much more complex than a knee jerk response to the public inquiry and child protection issues. Moreover, it was the ideal opportunity for introducing wide-ranging and radical changes. The government policy was legally underpinned when it was made law in the 2004 Children Act. All services for children and young people in an area (or local authority) are brought together into Children’s trusts and have a duty to cooperate under the new Children Act. This involved the statutory duty of children’s services and the involvement of the voluntary and community sector