Council cites strides in years since Arthur death

The leader of Solihull Council says "significant strides" have been made in improving children's services in the five years since the murder of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

Karen Grinsell, Conservative, said the authority had made "considerable progress" in how it worked with other bodies such as police and health experts, and had improved leadership and support for staff, such as reducing workloads. That, she added, was improving response to children in need of help.

The authority came in for major criticism following Arthur's death, with shortcomings in its dealings with the schoolboy exposed.

Opposition councillors welcomed Grinsell's comments but said more could still be done.

Arthur was tortured by his father, Thomas Hughes, and Hughes's partner, Emma Tustin. He died of a head injury on 17 June 2020 at the couple's home.

Tustin was found guilty of murder and in December 2021 jailed for a minimum term of 29 years. Hughes was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 21 years, although his sentence was later increased to 24 years.

An Ofsted inspection in 2022 deemed Solihull's children's services to be inadequate.

A monitoring visit, which took place in April, found the authority had improved in areas such as managing safeguarding referrals and staff workloads.

It was the sixth and final assessment ahead of an expected full inspection later this year.

"Our thoughts are with Arthur's family and friends on the anniversary [of his death]," said Grinsell.

"We have worked hard to improve our services for children and families since then and I am pleased we have made significant strides with this, as recognised by our most recent monitoring visit.

"We know we must not rest on our laurels and we will continue to make improvements so that children and families receive the support that they deserve."

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