Child Protection Post‐Laming: The Wider Agenda Available to Purchase

The Laming Inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié recommends national and local changes to the child protection process. While the benefits of national reforms are uncertain, changes in local practice are clearly necessary. Greater consensus about the information necessary to inform decisions and its interpretation is likely to improve matters. But, it is argued, practice development has to be informed by research into the epidemiology of child abuse and the effects of decisions on children's welfare. A common language to identify and analyse children's needs and relate them to services, manifest in validated practice tools for use by managers and practitioners, is suggested as a way forward.