Did Ofsted alter report?
LAWYERS acting for Sharon Shoesmith demanded yesterday to see drafts of an Ofsted inspectors' report prepared in the wake of the public outcry over the death of Baby P. The move followed a whistleblower's suggestion that it might have been "manipulated".It came on the final day of High Court challenge by Ms Shoesmith to the legality of her sacking as director of children's services for Haringey council.
Ofsted said it "refutes the allegation that it manipulated any results". Beachcroft, solicitors acting for Ms Shoesmith, wrote to the Treasury Solicitor demanding that disclosure following the whistleblower's allegations that an annual assessment report on Haringey was secretly downgraded from "good" to "inadequate" because of the furore over the death.
In their letter, the solicitors quote a national newspaper article which suggested that "senior managers at Ofsted instructed inspectors to rewrite the report on the same information, changing everything because they (Ofsted) were more interested in protecting Ofsted than protecting children".
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| Publication: | The Journal (Newcastle, England) |
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| Date: | Oct 13, 2009 |
| Words: | 164 |
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