§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to obtain an independent evaluation of the role of the social services inspectorate in the events leading up to the Staffordshire child care inquiry.
§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley[holding answer 18 June 1991]: Children's homes are the responsibility of local authorities. It is their job to see that proper management and monitoring systems are in place.
An independent inquiry has been undertaken by Mr. Allan Levy QC and Mrs. Barbara Kahan into the "pindown" experience and the protection of children in Staffordshire children's homes. They were quite satisfied that the social services inspectors who had visited homes in Staffordshire in 1987 as part of a general review on the development of family centres were not told about "pindown" and its workings.