Children’s services should come before Parliament over Sara Sharif failings – MP

Officials from Surrey child services should appear before Parliament to answer to failings in their care of murdered 10-year-old Sara Sharif, an MP has urged.

Widespread condemnation of authorities that should have protected the child – who was killed by her father and stepmother in August 2023 – has followed a “damning” review into the handling of her case from birth through to her death.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the report, published on Thursday, highlighted “glaring failures and missed opportunities” which led to a death that “could – and should – have been avoided”.

Echoing this, England’s children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said the murder was “preventable” and occurred after a “catalogue of missed opportunities, poor communication and ill-informed assumptions”.

The review said there was “no single solution that will address all the factors that affected Sara” but that there were “clearly several points in Sara’s life, in particular during the last few months, where different actions could and should have been taken and the system failed to keep her safe.”

Woking MP Will Forster said Sara had been failed by the state “at every stage” as he called for a “full parliamentary investigation”.

He said the council’s executive director for children, families and lifelong learning should “appear before MPs to explain why she accepted an £8,700 pay rise after Sara’s death – despite the failings of her department”.

He added: “All the warning signs were there, yet they were not acted upon. The authorities were fully aware that Sara was at risk. She was placed on a child protection plan before being born and was a victim of domestic abuse from that day onwards.

“It is now painfully clear that Sara’s murderers exploited loopholes in the home education system to conceal their abuse. Legislation is urgently needed to prevent this from happening again.”

Calling for a full parliamentary investigation, he added: “It is vital that the 15 comprehensive recommendations set out in the report are urgently implemented in full.

“We owe it to Sara, and to every vulnerable child in Surrey and beyond, to prevent children from being murdered by those who should love and care for them.”

Surrey County Council has apologised for findings highlighted in the review but said it has made improvements which have seen its services go from being rated “inadequate” to “good” in recent years.

But Mr Forster said people who have failed should “consider their position” after a report he branded “damning”.

He told the PA news agency: “I think the Government needs to step in and put Surrey County Council’s children’s social services in special measures.

“I don’t think they’re fit for purpose. They failed Sara, and I’m concerned they could fail more vulnerable children.

“I particularly want those that are responsible at Surrey County Council to be accountable here in Parliament and answer questions by MPs.”

Ms Phillipson said the Government “will take every step to help make sure that no child is left invisible to the services that are there to keep them safe”, pointing to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which she said will “make sure that home-educated children are receiving a safe and suitable education, and that public bodies are clear on what information needs to be shared to keep children safe”.

She also highlighted £2 billion of investment into support for local areas to set up multi-agency child protection teams to take “expert, decisive action” when children are at risk of significant harm.

Dame Rachel said the country’s “fragmented children’s services need desperate reform, focused on prioritising resource, transformed information sharing and proper, professional accountability”.

She reiterated her call for a smacking ban and said it “must become impossible for children at risk of neglect or abuse to be removed from the protection of school under the guise of” being home schooled, adding that the “system is too easily manipulated by people with terrible intentions”.

The review stated that Sara’s father and stepmother undoubtedly “used home education to keep her hidden from view in the last weeks of her life”.

Surrey County Council chief executive Terence Herbert said: “We are deeply sorry for the findings in the report related to us as a local authority.

“We have already taken robust action to address those relating to Surrey County Council and that work will continue with every recommendation implemented in full.”

Council leader Tim Oliver said the situation was “horrific and incredibly sad”.

He said the council will act on the report’s findings “and continue to review and strengthen our culture, systems and processes designed to support good practice in working with children and families, as per the recommendations”.

The NSPCC said this was another case of “children falling through the gaps because of a lack of robust multi-agency working” and that the “years of missed opportunities to protect Sara shine a spotlight on a child protection system that has been critically neglected by successive governments”.

Maria Neophytou, from the charity, said: “What today’s findings have confirmed is that children’s social care in England desperately needs better structures of communication between professionals who work with families, including the courts, police, health workers, teachers and social workers.”