The Boy in the Woods: The Discussion

In this one-off special documentary linked to her recent series
'The Boy in the Woods', Winifred Robinson brings together Lord
Laming who led an inquiry into Rikki Neave's death with Dame
Louise Casey, who oversaw the Troubled Families Programme, and
Polly Curtis, whose written extensively about what is happening
in the care system today.


The programme reports on current best-practice and how it can be
replicated and examines what's happened in the years since
Rikki’s death. What is our baseline here and what are we trying
to achieve? And is there an acceptable level of risk?


There were a whole series of investigations in the aftermath of
the death of six-year-old Rikki Neave and promises in Parliament
that lessons would be learned. His case is in the news again
because his killer has been convicted after 27 years. The many
layers of sadness and disadvantage in Rikki’s life are explored
in the Winifred Robinson 10-part Radio 4 series.


The case is a marker for more than a quarter of a century of lost
children and good intentions. Rikki was on the register of
children at risk. His mother had asked for him to be taken into
care, saying she couldn’t control him, couldn’t cope. He was
playing truant from school on the day he died, a vulnerable
child, an easy target.


Jurors at his trial say that one of the saddest aspects is the
knowledge that children like Rikki are still dying today, that
social services inquiries keep coming to the same conclusions
about poor information-sharing, bad management and overloaded,
inexperienced staff.


Winifred's three guests have extensive experience of what has
gone wrong in the past and what we could be changing to improve
the life chances for the most vulnerable children in society.
This is a unique opportunity for listeners to consider some of
the wider aspects raised in the series, The Boy in the Woods


Lord Herbert Laming has been a social worker, a director of
social services, head of the Social Services Inspectorate. He was
involved in Rikki’s case. He chaired the public inquiry into the
murder of Victoria Climbie. The government asked him to review
child protection after the death of Baby P, Peter Connolly in
2007.


Baroness Louise Casey has been finding practical solutions to
difficult social problems for years now. She led the Anti-Social
Behaviour Unit at the Home Office, the Troubled Families
Programme, the investigation into the Rotherham Child Sexual
Exploitation scandal.


Polly Curtis is a journalist who’s just published a book, Behind
Closed Doors: Why We Break Up Families and How to Mend Them. She
knows what’s happening in the care system now, what’s changed,
what could be better.