MORE than a year after the inquiry into the death of tragic Victoria Climbie was published, councils, police forces and education authorities in Lancashire are still coming to terms with its findings. DANNY BRIERLEY reports. . .

ON February 25, 2000 ,at 3.15pm, in Victoria Hospital, in London, eight-year-old Victoria Climbie was pronounced dead.

The little girl had been sent from her home in Africa to find a better life with family in Europe but died with 128 wounds inflicted by an aunt and her cruel lover.

Marie Therese Kouao and Carl Manning were later jailed for her murder and a public inquiry into Victoria's death has been held.

Lord Laming's probe into the death in 2003 made more than 100 recommendations about child care, all of which were designed to prevent a repeat of the tragic events.

An during the course of his investigations, it was revealed that social workers, health professionals and police officers missed 12 chances to save little Victoria's life.

It was doctors who originally alerted child protection authorities after the injured youngster was taken to hospital but a catalogue of errors meant Kouao and Manning were able to sustain a cycle of abuse that eventually led to torture and death.

An investigation found that from August to October 1999, Manning even forced her to sleep in a bin liner at his flat in Tottenham, north London.

Shortly after, police investigated allegations that Manning was sexually abusing Victoria - but took no further action after a letter to Kouao remained unanswered.

Sentencing Kouao and Manning to life imprisonment, Judge Richard Hawkins told them: "What Victoria endured was truly unimaginable.

"She died at both your hands, a lonely drawn out death."

Then in September 2003, the Government published Every Child Matters, a Green Paper which set out proposals for the delivery of services to children and families and, along with the core of Laming's findings, centred on a need to bring together the services which vulnerable children rely on to protect them.

Now Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council and our education authorities have been told they must work closer.

In July last year, a snap audit by Government inspectors at Blackburn with Darwen Council found that vacancies in its social service department were not being filled quickly enough.

The council has now said this, and its other requirements from the Climbie report, were well on the way to being completed.

Coun Maureen Bateson, Blackburn with Darwen Council executive member for social services, said: "We have worked towards full compliance with the Climbie recommendations.

"Since the inquiry, there has been a Green Paper on children's services and the Government has now published its Children's Bill, which outlines future directions for services and includes some we had already taken.

"We have addressed all issues outstanding from our audit and the Social Services Inspectorate has signed off our action plan as completed.

"All local authorities audited their services to make sure they met the standards set out in Lord Laming's report. Our audit indicated some areas where we needed to improve what we did.

"We developed an action plan to deliver these improvements and this has been implemented.

"Responding to the Laming Report is just part of the agenda for children's services, all of which is taken into account in planning our work."

But despite Coun Bateson's confidence, a series of high profile cases have marred attempts to win public's confidence. Nine months after Lord Laming's report, it was revealed a 12-year-old girl living in the council's care had absconded from her home 39 times and become pregnant while working as a prostitute.

In August, eight months after the report, Carry Ann Brown died in a car crash on the M6 motorway after being taken from her foster home by her father.

Sean Brown was jailed for life in March after admitting to killing his 14-year-old daughter.

A report into the social service department's handling of the case is due to be released before the end on the month.

And Shane Cook died just two months after the Laming report.

The 13-year-old was travelling with friends in a car when it came of the road near Samlesbury at 1am. Social services were unaware Shane had broken a curfew and was out that night. The cases demonstrated both the complexities surrounding social care and the need for Lord Laming's reforms.

Last month, it was revealed every child in East Lancashire would be given an electronic file, tracking their involvement with GPs, schools, police and social workers, in a bid to improve services.

The county council has recently committed itself to five targets it said would lead to a better service for children.

These include involving children and families fully; listening and learning, genuinely, aiming to provide the best possible outcomes; being responsive and flexible, and respecting diversity and promoting equality. In order to achieve them, the county council said it will now start to bring together education, social services and the youth offending teams.

Its leader, Rossendale councillor Hazel Harding, said: "The decisions we have made pave the way for new, integrated services for children to be in place by April 2006.

"We want to make sure these services are provided in the best possible way for the benefit of children in Lancashire. We are keen to follow the guidelines set out in the new Children Bill and have already made children's services the sole responsibility of a cabinet member.

"I am sure everyone will benefit from these changes; staff, parents, families and most of all the children of Lancashire."

A spokesman for the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate said it had instigated a series of checks to ensure organisations were implementing Laming's report but added it was impossible to say how well each authority had done until new legislation had passed through Parliament.