Pelka serious case review

The chairman of the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board, Amy Weir, said a "brief" report containing further analysis of authorities' actions in the Daniel Pelka case would be published.

A fresh report has been ordered following a damning report which found numerous failings by police, social services, and schools.

A new report looking into the exact reasons why child protection workers failed to intervene in the case of Daniel Pelka follows a written request by a government minister.

MP Edward Timpson, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, wrote to the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board after a damning 76-page serious case review what he labelled "a number of basic practice failures".

He urged the board to look at why information was not recorded properly, why it was not shared between agencies, and why four separate assessments failed to identify the risk to Daniel.

He said the answers were "critical" to improving child protection practice across the UK.

The Department for Education has welcomed the launch of a further review of authorities' handling of the Daniel Pelka case.

A fresh report into why child protection workers failed to intervene to save murdered schoolboy Daniel Pelka has been launched, investigators have announced.

Four-year-old Daniel, from Coventry, was beaten and starved to death by his mother, Magdelena Luczak, and stepfather Mariusz Krezolek, who are currently serving a minimum of 30 years in prison for murder.

The Coventry Safeguarding Children Board will be digging deeper into the breakdown of the network of social workers, health professionals, teaching staff and police, after a damning initial report revealed numerous and repeated failings.

The report found that despite a number of danger signs - including broken bones, arriving at school with black eyes, and teachers catching him raiding bins for scraps of food - nobody ever spoke to Daniel alone, or intervened in his care.

Coventry MP, Geoffrey Robinson, has called for a Commons debate on the death of Daniel Pelka after the release of yesterday's serious case review.

The four-year-old was starved and beaten to death by his mother and her partner.

Mr Robinson said he wants a more organised action plan for child safeguarding.

A Serious Case Review has been published into the death of Daniel Pelka.

The four year old was murdered by his mother Magdalena Luczak and her partner Mariusz Krezolek in March last year, after a campaign of cruelty described at the time as "incomprehensible".

Today's review says there were a number of opportunities missed by school staff, social workers and police officers to uncover the abuse he was suffering. It makes fifteen recommendations for how children's services in Coventry should be improved.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Government must ensure abused children like Daniel Pelka "do not fall in between the cracks of the system again".

Mr Clegg told ITV News it was "absolutely heartbreaking" that Daniel had been neglected and abused "in the most unimaginable way".

"The whole nation was shocked to our core when we saw what happened to this little poor boy," he added.

Home Secretary Theresa May said there are "lessons to be learnt" from the case of Daniel Pelka, the four-year-old boy who was beaten and starved to death.

Ms May said: "I'm pleased the Government enables these reviews now to be published so we can actually see where issues arise. We can genuinely learn the lessons.

"I think all the agencies have recognised that they need to look at how information is shared between people.

"One of the issues that the Daniel Pelka case raises is that when people are looking into issues of domestic violence, making sure we look at how those incidents affect children."

Prior to Daniel Pelka's death in March 2012, the four-year-old came in contact with a number of professionals who either noticed or treated him for injuries, or saw changes in his weight and eating behaviour.

The Serious Case Review found there were a number of opportunities to protect Daniel that were missed:

Read: Daniel suffered 22 different injuries across his body

Children's Minister Edward Timpson has ruled out Government support for a so-called "Daniel's Law" that would place a legal duty on social workers, doctors and school teachers to report child abuse.

Mr Timpson has instead written to the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board, which published today's report, urging them to "dig deeper" into the reasons why mistakes were made in the case of Daniel Pelka.

He said: "Mandatory reporting is not the answer. Guidance is already crystal clear that professionals should refer immediately to social care when they are concerned about a child.

"Other countries have tried mandatory reporting and there is no evidence to show that it is a better system for protecting children. In fact there is evidence to show it can make children less safe."