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Sharon Shoesmith boasted that the year in which Baby P died was "hugely productive" for child protection in Haringey.
The council's former director of children's services hailed the progress her staff made in the months in which Peter Connelly was tortured and neglected.
Her remarks came in a report that praised social services for acting quickly when children were thought to be at risk. Social workers were later condemned for letting Peter die at the hands of his mother Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen in August 2007.
Ms Shoesmith is challenging her sacking in the High Court over the failure to protect the 17-month-old. In the 2007-08 report of Haringey's Local Safeguarding Children Board, which she chaired, Ms Shoesmith claimed inquiries into child deaths and abuse cases provided "learning opportunities" to help social workers improve.
She wrote: "2007-08 was another hugely productive year for the LSCB and all its constituent parts, a year in which we made further strides to improve the safety of our children and young people."
Despite making an oblique reference to Peter's death, the report declared that Haringey had achieved "the top performance banding" for assessing suspected abuse cases on time. It said this represented "considerable improvement" and was "better than the average for our comparator boroughs".
In the period covered by the report, Baby Peter was seen more than 60 times by doctors, social workers and police. He was found in his cot with more than 50 injuries including a broken back. Connelly, Barker and Owen were jailed for causing or allowing his death.
Ms Shoesmith, 56, is asking the court to quash an Ofsted report which was highly critical of her department and to review Mr Balls's decision to sack her. Ofsted, Haringey council and Mr Balls's department deny acting unfairly.
Reader views (17)
My jaw dropped at reading "learning opportunities". How can this case be of ANY profit a life was lost. I am disgusted by police, social service workers, neighbors and anyone who ever even came into contact with this innocent angel.
- Karina Larroca, <
The story of Baby Peter & Victoria Climbie is a preventable tragedy. Both occurances taking place under the watchful protection of Haringey Child Services. It is obvious that this child protection service organization is flawed. It is also alarming having read numerous reports on both cases that the employees of Haringey are more distraught over the loss of their high-end paying salaries (Shoesmith annual salary 100,000 pounds)than the loss of a precious innocent life. It truly saddens me, as I am a mother of a beautiful 14 month old little boy and I could not phathom that type of abuse on a baby. How could that go un-noticed? Children of that age could not possibly inflict "accident proned" injuries as such. Any adult with a brain and functioning common sense would know that. The fact that the children in these cases had countless lice, scabbies, missing finger nails, bruises, cigrette burns to their bodies how does that get dismissed? How could anyone repeadly hand these children back over to their unhumane guardians after countless hospital and police visits & reports? These employees should not be crying over their lost paycheck...I realize that the abusers are the ultimate villians here, but the employees of Haringey are employeed to protect the children with no rights and voices. There were one to many RED flags in both cases of reports that continued to fall on death ears, its a true same because the world lost out of 2 beautiful children.
- Melnie, Chicago - USA
I do believe that it is irresponsible and unproffesional to work with children and not doing anything to stop the abuse. it's not hard to see it happening, and I cant believe someone would think of it as a good year when there are defensless and innocent lives being lost. If someone is going to work in that field they need to do their jobs, and do what they are there to do. She should never be allowed to work with children again after that happened. we dont need anymore victims of child abuse we need to try to stop the suffering of these poor children who can defend themselves.
- Autumn Lower, Owosso, United States
"As Baby P was being tortured Shoesmith reported 'a good year'..." - not exactly something she'd have said if she was aware it was going on. No-one's that dumb (or uncaring)!
The woman is guilty of poor management, for whatever reason, that contributed to tragedy. Most here seem to be implying that she is guilty of complicity with the child's murder by lowlifes that unnecessarily use perfectly good air that could otherwise been more usefully employed blowing up party balloons. If you want to give her grief, at least do it for the right reason.
- Rogan, Irving
Little innocent baby P was being tortured until his little heart stopped. Tears still come up every time I see a picture of Baby P in papers.
"Hugely productive"?? Has she got eyes, ears and heart? Did she work hard enough to supervise her team? What documents she was seeing while she was there? Can't she feel responsibility to save little one's life?
I don't know why she doesn't feel guilt, regret and responsibility what happened to Baby P.
I still wish I could save his life if I knew him..
- K.N., London, U.K.
She's just one example of what happens when you reward people for meeting targets and ticking all the boxes. The targets get met and the boxes get ticked, but the reasons behind the targets and tick-boxes are conveniently overlooked. If it's child services that do this, then the result is children tortured to death, because they stop looking at the people and just improve the paper-shuffling.
- Nigel, London
I want to see this woman Shoesmith in prison where she belongs,in any decent country that is what would have happened,but sadly those days ended in the UK forty years ago.
- General Lee Wright, Communist Gulag SE3
If that was a good year I would hate to see what a bad year is like.
Let's hope the judge sees through her arrogance & incompetence and dismisses her case with costs.
If she is as destitute as she claims she will be able to get first hand experience of social 'services'!
- Mark Myword, London
She was useless at her job..has made no proper apologies for the suffering she allowed to happen to the children in her dept's care..she just couldn't care less..she'd make a good Labour MP.
- El Del, Valencia Spain
shoesmith is not alone. teachers police and many more forms of public servants, do not give value for money,the better one's will tell you the same.they do not get exposed because it will reflect badly on the authority who employ them. the police was seen to be negligent last week,thousands of semi educated teenagers roam our streets looking for non existent jobs that we export abroad owing to the tax system being unfair to both employer and employee,not forgetting the our politicians the very worse of the incompetent army
- John Patrick Green, nottingham
I think the first question Social Workers should ask themselves when visiting vulnerable children in dysfunctional homes is: If this was my child would I leave him/her here for a week or a month. In most cases the answer would most probably be, not even for a day.
- Patricia, LONDON
Ms Shoesmith is living in a fantasy world, along with her superiors. "2007-08 was another hugely productive year"?? "Haringey had achieved "the top performance banding"?? What planet are those people on?
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
Haringey had acheived "the top perfomance banding" for assessing suspected abuse cases on time. It said this represented 'considerable improvements' and 'was better than the average for our comparator boroughs'
That's the statement that makes all those who are having to depend on 'other boroughs' to protect the children who they have IDENTIFIED as at risk, shake in their shoes.
It is quite obvious that IDENTIFIED at risk children in Haringey were being 'reduced to paperwork' which didn't reflect the reality of what was happening to them in their everyday lives.
Sharon Shoesmith, it would seem, was totally removed from and was completely of touch with the truth of the situation within the child protection unit that she was employed to 'oversee'
- Darnthesafetynet, London W11 1NR
The only good thing that year was her wages!!
- C Cusano, Bedford
It is deeply disturbing that this woman was once a teacher and that countless numbers of parents left their children in her care. There needs to be an urgent review of the selection procedure to ensure people of Shoesmith's calibre are never allowed to work with children. Her continuing lack of remorse signifies a pathological flaw in her character.
- R.F.York, Yorks, UK
This woman is simply deluded?
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
Its a bit like a used car dealership issuing a statement saying that "all the cars we have sold this year have been exceptional value for money" despite having been taken to court for numerous offences. Nobody will ever now believe any report which is a self-generated, internal report intented to beguile the local councillors into thinking that everything was wondeful
and the high wages being paid were justified. These reports should be done independently.
- Jim Allan, Lake District
