Paper 2 presentation

MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL

Death of Alex Sutherland

Manchester City Council

• Local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England.

• It is composed of 96 councilors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester.

• Provides health and social care in four different categories: Children, Families, Adults and Youth.

City Council Services

• Provides help for those with mental and physical disabilities

• Childcare and protection

• Fostering and adoption

Manchester Safeguarding Children Board

• Responsible for overseeing the 'Staying Safe' element of the Children and Young People's Plan

• Has a statutory responsibility to support and challenge all agencies in relation to how they safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people as they deliver their services.

• Child Death Overview PanelC

Child Death Overview Panel

• In relation to the deaths of any children normally resident in their area.

• In charge of putting in place procedures for ensuring that there is a coordinated response by the authority, their Board partners and other relevant persons to an unexpected death.

• This panel can make recommendations to agencies on how to implement learning.

Crisis- Death of Baby Alex

Crisis

Crisis

• Manchester Child Services knew of the abuse but did not place Alex on the “at risk” list even though Tracy admitted to drinking 6 bottles of wine a day.

• 17 different reports of neglect and alcoholism

Crisis

Initial Response

• “The report is clear in saying that the level of neglect this little boy was experiencing was preventable, had things been different at certain points and had people assessed the situation in a different kind of way.”

• “It is important to stress that it's not as if agencies and organizations weren't trying to do something to support this mother.”

Later Response

• “The death of this little boy was a tragedy and I would like once again to offer my condolences. The report finds that there were multi-agency failings in respect of the care and support provided to the family. Children's Services accept its part in this and have adopted the recommendations.”

- Director of Children's Services for Manchester City Council

Social Media Response

NONE….no Facebook posts throughout the month of November.

Press Releases

None…

Media Response

Stakeholder Response

Recommendations

• Do not take the defense!

• Take a more proactive approach by stating you are doing all you can to try to ensure this type of neglect will not happen again.

• Pass some regulation changes in the organization and write press releases about them.

• Use social media to communicate with media and stakeholders

Recommendations

• Have a press conference and make an effort to answer reporters questions

• The more information you can give and the more cooperative you = the more positive the article.