Child protection - 'We cannot return to days of failures'

Never lavished with the same investment as schools and hospitals, their resources are always stretched - many frontline workers would say over-stretched.

Yet, the dire consequences of failure are well-documented, in tragedies such as that of Baby P and the death of Caleb Ness in Edinburgh.

And the demands on their services are increasing dramatically, with the trend expected to continue.

Part of the problem is the growing number of kids with drug and alcohol addicted parents. That has contributed to the number of case conferences attended by Lothian and Borders Police rising by 40 per cent in the year to April 2009.

Now in this age of austerity all the agencies involved - councils, the NHS and police - face the task of doing their jobs with less money.

But the growing number of cases alone suggests that when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable youngsters those involved will need to do more, not less.

Recent history proves there are simply no acceptable half-measures.

The fact that in the last seven years damning reports into child protection services have led to the resignation of three senior figures at two Lothian councils shows how close we have sometimes sailed to the wind.

We cannot return to the days of "failures at almost every level" in Edinburgh which lead to the death of Caleb Ness at the hands of his violent father, or of vulnerable youngsters being left at risk of abuse, harm or neglect in Midlothian.

The demands of the current financial crisis are tough, but they do not mean that universal cuts must be applied to every service.

What is essential is that what money we do have is spent better.

Chief Constable David Strang has signalled the way forward by calling for a radical rethink of the way these services are delivered.

He is right. If ever there was an inarguable case for reforming public services, then this is it.