Implications of Recommendations of Independent Inquiry into the Death of Cults Academy Pupil Bailey Gwynne

The Report of the Independent Inquiry into the death of the senior pupil of Cults Academy in Aberdeen City, Bailey Gwynne, was launched on 11 October. The report made 21 recommendations.

Unfortunately, after the publication of the report, one recommendation dominated the news, "The Scottish Government should improve the resilience of schools to the threat posed by weapons and give consideration to amending the law in relation to searching pupils." I was contacted by the press about whether I was in favour of this or not.

Having read about this tragic case, I am convinced that the real challenge for our schools and pupils is how we develop pupil - teacher relationships that enable pupils to reveal to teachers that a pupil at school is carrying an offensive weapon. In the case of the pupil who stabbed and killed Bailey Gwynne, the Inquiry learned that he was known by several pupils to have had a knife on his person at school on numerous occasions, including the day of his altercation with Bailey Gwynne. This, I recognise, means overcoming pupil fears about being labelled as 'clypes'.

This is a copy of my response to the press:

"Labour's Education Spokesperson in Dundee said:

I am sure that our Executive Director of Family and Children's Service, Michael Wood, will be coming forward with a report to Committee. I should expect that this will provide a comprehensive response to the recommendations from Andrew Lowe's report which map how best we can respond in Dundee to try to prevent such a fatality in our schools. The inquiry report's recommendation about enhancing the right of senior teachers to search a pupil is clearly marked for the attention of the Scottish Government and is for the future.

I note that the inquiry reported that the death of schoolboy Bailey Gwynne might have been avoided if those who knew his killer carried weapons had reported it to school staff. This suggests to me that we shall need to consider how effectively our schools are promoting an ethos of openness to communication between pupils and teachers to support such disclosures."

More recently, the Director of Children and Families' Service, Michael Wood, has confirmed that after liaison with staff and trade unions, he will indeed be reporting to the Children and Families' Service Committee with recommendations about how we should respond to this tragedy in our schools here in Dundee.

Commenting on Serious Lapse in Council's Duty of Care When Nursery School Pupil Was Left Stranded on School Bus

I was very concerned by the news that last week a three year old nursery pupil with additional support needs, who attends the Francis Wright Nursery, had been left unattended on their school bus. Apparently this young boy was left alone on a minibus which had delivered the other children to the nursery and then was returned to the contractor's garage. The wee lad apparently remained strapped into his seat and undetected for a number of hours until a driver returned to take the bus back to the nursery for the return journeys.

This was a very serious lapse in the Council's duty of care to one of our youngest children at nursery.

I have been in immediate contact with, Michael Wood, The Director of Children and Families' Service, who has assured me that an inquiry has already been launched. I made it clear that we need to know how it was that this child was left on the bus and how he was not missed when he did not turn up at the nursery. Clearly parents and carers and Councillors, who are corporate parents, need to be reassured that such a serious lapse in child protection procedures will be avoided in the future.

Significant Case Review: Brandon Lee Muir

Following the death of Brandon Muir, those charged with leading and managing child protection services in Dundee commissioned two separate reviews. A significant case review was commissioned in line with national guidance to examine the particular circumstances surrounding the child protection issues, and the role of the various authorities involved. Separately, an independent review was commissioned by the Chief Officers Group to ensure validation of the Significant Case Review, but also to address wider issues which may emerge, not necessarily related to the death of Brandon.

The two Reports were published on Wednesday 19 August.
Significant Case Review: Brandon Lee Muir
I attended the briefing for elected members with the two authors of the jointly published reports.

Summary of Joint Report Findings

4 The Significant Case Review concludes that the violence of Robert Cunningham towards Brandon Muir could not have been predicted. In the period of less than three weeks that Cunningham became part of the family grouping with Heather Boyd and her two children, child protection staff had quickly embarked on a process of assessment and information gathering which would have led to a Case Conference on 18th March 2008.

5 In that time, both social work and health staff had seen Heather Boyd, Robert Cunningham and the children on a number of occasions, visited the home, and Heather had cooperated with a medical examination on Brandon in relation to a query about his gait.

6 The focus of attention in preparation for the Case Conference centred more on the well being of the children against the context of concern about Heather Boyd’s wider parenting skills and the home environment, rather than the threat of violence from Robert Cunningham.

7 The Significant Case Review explored in considerable detail the information known to the authorities about Heather Boyd and her children, and about Robert Cunningham. The authorities had sought to offer Heather Boyd support in her parenting role. She never utilised this to any great degree, preferring to make use of the support offered her by her parents. While she had come to the
notice of the police in the past, nothing was known of her activities in prostitution, and she had no recorded history of drug misuse. Experienced staff found no evidence of either a chaotic household or lifestyle that suggested she had a dependence on substances.

8 Both health visiting and social work staff consistently stated that Heather and her children did not stand out as giving great cause for concern. Whilst there were ongoing concerns, these never reached a threshold which prompted consideration of more formal intervention until shortly before Brandon’s death.

9 Robert Cunningham had also come to the previous attention of the police, but more significantly in this case he was known to the police, social work services and to the Children’s Reporter through his alleged involvement in domestic violence towards a previous partner.

10 The Significant Case Review explains what has changed in Dundee since the death of Brandon Muir, and where appropriate reference is also made to the Improvement Plan which has been developed in response to the recent HMIE joint inspection.

11 However, in examining the particular circumstances of the case, the two reviews identified a number of issues which have a continuing consequence for child protection policy and practice in Dundee, and some of which are of wider national interest.