Laws quizzes Balls on Haringey

11.43.19am GMT Tue 18th Nov 2008

' . . IS not it clear that we need a public inquiry to establish exactly what happened in Haringey . . ?'

• [Nov 17]: David Laws (Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Children, Schools and Families; Yeovil, Liberal Democrat): We obviously welcome the current investigation into the tragic events in Haringey. However, is not it already obvious from the evidence in the public domain that an inquiry that takes place over a period of just two weeks will be inadequate in getting to the bottom of the issues? Is not it clear that we need a public inquiry to establish exactly what happened in Haringey and why the lessons of the 2003 report have not been learned?

Edward Balls (Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families; Normanton, Labour): I asked for an urgent inspection from Ofsted, the Healthcare Commission and the constabulary. I said that "urgent" meant that I had to have a first report in two weeks. If they judge that they need more time to prepare a second report, that is fine, but I want action in two weeks and that is why I have set the timetable. The right thing to do is to examine what happened-the management failures, the problems of process and how that led to the wrong judgment, it seems, being made about the safety of the child. As I said, I am going to do that properly. I will wait for the inspectors and then act on the basis of their first report, which will come to me on 1 December.