THE media and most politicians have again gone berserk over the death of baby “P”.

This poor child had the misfortune to be born to an incapable mother in a relationship with a sadistic and manipulating man.

It is a tragedy repeated every week as nearly 50 children a year die as a result of parental violence or neglect.

The modern media state, however, cannot accept that this is a tragedy; something has to be done.

If a child died in the full glare of the media there must have been systemic failure of procedure or, better still, a systemic failure of management.

More boxes will have to be created to tick. Risk assessment will have to be beefed up.

What no one will say is the fault may lie with a compliance procedure that means social workers spend 60 per cent of their time in front of a computer rather than in continuous contact with problem families.

No one will say we need less bureaucracy.

No one will say we need to make it easier (i.e. less litigious) to remove poorly performing staff from their posts.

No one will say social workers have too many forms to fill in and too few options to exercise their common sense.

No one will conclude social workers need support when their impossibly difficult choices are sometimes proved to be wrong.

No, the conclusions of the numerous inquiries launched into the death of baby “P” will state we need nationwide reform, with more robust systems in place, so when we have another inquiry in the future there will be no doubt who is to blame.

This is the way of our over-centralised state.

Martyn Cox, Former executive member for Children’s Services