Historical novelists engage in research to ensure the authenticity of facts, and read as many related books, non-fiction and fiction, as possible. In my blogs I share the more fascinating fruits of my labours.
As outlined the first book of the series, the impetus for the creation of the Spinningdales team was the Maria Colwell scandal. So, who was Maria? Why did her short life hit the headlines? And why did her death result in a range of national initiatives, like the one in Midbeckshire?
On 22nd October 1971 Maria returned to her mother’s care and never saw the Coopers again.
After Maria’s death, the case hit the headlines in the local, then national news, and the key social worker, Miss Lees, was blamed and vilified. Much of the reason for this can be traced to the family feud, with the Colwell side seeking to divert responsibility away from Pauline Colwell, whereas the Coopers were still bitter that Maria had been taken from them. Additional factors include the availability of an appealing photograph of Maria, and a predominantly right-wing national press which delighted in attacking what were seen as ‘leftie’ social workers. Early in the first Spinningdales novel, Sue reads a cutting about the tragedy, and although the ‘Brighton Oracle’ is a fictitious newspaper, the report of the case is a redraft of one written at the time. The excoriation of Miss Lees, whose practice appears to have been capable and caring, was extreme. It left child protection professionals at the time fearful because they recognised it could just as easily have been them in the firing line.
There were demands for a public inquiry. The subsequent Report1 makes heart-breaking reading as a picture emerges of a once happy child becoming frightened, traumatised, maltreated, and eventually beaten to death. A notable feature of the Report is that one member of the three-person panel, Olive Stevenson2, felt impelled to disagree with her colleagues and thus wrote a minority report showing her understanding of the complexities of the role performed by social workers. Olive, with whom I was acquainted, was a highly intelligent, experienced social worker, and an insightful academic. While her minority report was valued by social workers, the government, press and general public leapt on the more judgemental findings of the main report. Nevertheless, this main Report is valuable because it identifies the key issue as a failure in communication and absence of any system for coordinating all the people who were involved and expressing concern. The action taken by the Government, based on the Report, was constructive. In each local authority of England and Wales, Area Review Committees of key child protection agencies such as health, education, police and social services were appointed. These ARCs were charged with devising local procedures to ensure an efficient and constructive response to child protection concerns. In several areas the NSPCC pooled resources with the local social service and health authorities, to facilitate local procedures through ‘Special Units’. Spinningdales is based on this practice model.
the Report emphasised, “direct personal communication between social workers and children about their problems is indispensable. (p.76)”
References
1. Committee of Inquiry into the Care and SupervisionProvided in Relation to Maria Colwell (1974). Report of the Committee ofInquiry into the care and supervision provided by local authorities and otheragencies in relation to Maria Colwell and the co-ordination between them(Chairman: T. G. Field-Fisher) London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
2. Parsloe Phillipa (2013) Olive Stevenson. The Guardian10 Oct 2013 Obituaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/10/olive-stevenson
3. Handley, G and Doyle, C(2014). Ascertaining the wishes andfeelings of young children: social workers' perspectives on skills and training. Child & Family Social Work, 19 (4): 443–454,