Letter: Best for children

Sir: The case of the Bramley family illustrates very well the rather haphazard nature of the services for children, partitioned as they are between social services, education and the NHS.

The last Labour government set up a Children's Committee which Mrs Thatcher abolished soon after attaining power. The Government should revive it. One reform that has long been needed is the appointment of an examining magistrate to replace the present case conferences in deciding what to do in case of suspected abuse. Another is a review of local authority care in relation to adoption and fostering, bearing in mind that delay and uncertainty are probably as damaging as inappropriate placement. The social services appear to have forgotten that the best is the enemy of the good enough.

JOHN A DAVIS

Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire