Sandwell's child deaths 'highest in Black Country'

Sandwell councillors discussed the number of child deaths in the area and the response to serious safeguarding incidents

Sandwell recorded the highest number of child deaths across four years compared to other parts of the Black Country, figures revealed.

A report for Sandwell Council showed 144 children died in the area from 2019-23, with 40 in the past year.

Across the same four years, 99 were recorded in Dudley, 96 in Walsall and 24 in Wolverhampton.

The issue was discussed by councillors examining Sandwell's response to serious safeguarding incidents.

The 40 child deaths in Sandwell in the last 12 months compared to 35 in Dudley, 29 in Walsall and 24 in Wolverhampton.

Gillian Ming from the Sandwell Children's Safeguarding Partnership told councillors the area had had the highest number of child deaths for several years.

"If we look further afield, we're not the highest but we're certainly not the lowest," she added.

'Why don't we get it right?'

Serious safeguarding incidents are where a child is known or suspected to have been abused or neglected and the child has died or been seriously harmed.

The safeguarding partnership is made up of representatives from Sandwell Council, Sandwell Children's Trust, West Midlands Police and the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board.

The partnership rules whether serious incidents have passed the threshold to be reviewed and higher authorities, such as Ofsted and the Department for Education, are notified.

A "rapid review" is then held to investigate any concerns and highlight any issues.

Of 20 serious incidents investigated in Sandwell since April 2019, two-thirds warranted further investigation, councillors heard.

All of the reviewed cases showed worrying issues with communication and information sharing between the children's trust, police, the NHS and other agencies, they were told. 

There were three "rapid reviews" last year, figures revealed, and a further three took place since April with three months remaining in the 2023-24 year.

Councillor Nicky Hinchliff, chair of the children's services and education scrutiny board, said: "Why don't we get it right? Why aren't we communicating?"

The safeguarding partnership manager said there were regular problems with sharing information between the children's trust, police and other agencies in Sandwell and across borders with the rest of the Black Country and Birmingham.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.