Social Services could be failing to prevent the deaths of almost 50 children a year at the hands of their parents and guardians.
The biggest-ever media investigation into lethal child abuse, published in The Mail on Sunday?s Live magazine today, reveals the shocking hidden toll of children who die of suspected neglect or abuse in their families? care.
Our unprecedented research ? published just days before the results of Lord Laming?s inquiry into the murder of Baby P in Haringey, North London, are made public ? reveals that in England alone, 228 under-sixes being monitored by Social Services have died in the five years since the government introduced its Children Act.
And the true figure is higher still, as many authorities hide the scale of the problem behind a cloak of secrecy. Live magazine used Freedom of Information rights to challenge the cover-up tactics employed by such authorities ? including some of Britain?s largest councils ? which insisted their silence was in line with guidelines laid down by Children?s Secretary Ed Balls.
