LETTER : Information about child abusers in the social services

From Cllr Alan Clinton

Sir: I would like to make crystal clear that Islington council has never refused to give other social services authorities the names of people in the White report ("Child abusers escape the net", 1 August; "Abuse case man given childcare job", 2 August). Nor have our lawyers given this advice.

In fact, when our social services chief, Hannah Miller, wrote to all directors of social services in the UK, on 1 June this year, she said:

If you want to check if any particular named staff are on the list or discuss this further, you are welcome to ring me.

Many authorities have done so and we have done all we can to help them.

For those who have contacted us to say that this is placing too much of a burden on their staff, we have asked them to send us an alphabetical staff list. And we have checked the whole thing for them. We are, of course, still offering this service.

We have discussed in detail every single person named in the White report with the Department of Health. We will do all we can to trace any individuals. We are making every effort to help any investigation into child abuse.

Yours faithfully

Alan Clinton

Leader of the Council

Islington Council

London, N1

3 August