A North London council has been forced to implement a major overhaul of its social work department after a damning revelation that it left more than 1,100 emails unread over a four-year period, missing hundreds of critical police reports in the process.
A Systemic Failure Uncovered
The scale of the neglect at Haringey Council was exposed by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in October. An investigation uncovered that the council's social work inbox had accumulated 1,100 unread messages between 2019 and 2023. Shockingly, this backlog included approximately 500 reports from the police, documents that often contain vital information about safeguarding and public protection.
At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 11th November, the council's cabinet member for health, social care, and wellbeing, Lucia Das Neves, issued a public apology. She described the situation as "totally unacceptable" and conceded it was "not what a good service looks like."
New Management and Promises of Reform
In response to the crisis, council bosses have installed a whole new management team and commissioned an external review of its services. Cllr Das Neves outlined an action plan designed to prevent a repeat of the failure.
"We've made substantial improvements to how we work," she stated. "There are clearer lines of accountability, stronger oversight and internal structures have been strengthened, especially around the receipt of incoming queries and emails."
A key pledge is that all safeguarding referrals will now be triaged within 48 hours of arrival. Sara Sutton, the corporate director for adults, housing, and health, confirmed that cases are prioritised based on risk level, with police reports being rated as red, amber, or green. She assured that the council currently has no outstanding police reports.
Political Row Over Secrecy and Accountability
The council's response was met with scepticism from opposition councillors. Luke Cawley-Harrison, the opposition leader, pressed for guarantees that the new triaging system would lead to concrete action, not just assessment.
A significant disagreement erupted over when the problem was acknowledged. According to the council, senior management was made aware of the backlog in early 2024. Cllr Cawley-Harrison, calling it one of the most "serious cases" he had witnessed, accused the council of keeping the issue "a secret" for over a year, undermining transparency.
Cllr Das Neves refuted the claim of secrecy, asserting the council was "not hiding from it" but had instead been focused on developing "a new way of working" to address the profound service failure.
