AN action plan to improve the performance of children's services in Thurrock is running behind schedule, a meeting of the borough's children's services overview & scrutiny committee will be told next week.

Last year the outcome of a serious case review into the death of the 23-month-old girl and the care of her older brother highlighted a number of failings.

The council found itself under considerable flack over the death of the child and only commissioned the review after significant criticism and investigations by the media, including the BBC.

Following the review a programe for improvement was set up and its aims and objective were presented to members of the children's services overview & scrutiny committee on 6 October last year.

The same committee will meet next week (Tuesday, 2 February) and will get an update. They will hear some of the plans initiated are running as much as five months behind schedule and just eight out of 18 targets that were scheduled to be met by the end of last year have been met.

There were five specific targets set and next week's meeting will be told "although key agencies within the partnership have met and discussed in detail the action plan arising from the recommendations, the speed and ease of implementation has been effected by the challenges and restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

"The action plan is now gaining grip across the partnership and there is a solid, clear pathway to achieve the outcomes desired for each recommendation."

The full action plan, and its progress can be read here.

Thurrock Nub News editor Neil Speight was editor of the Thurrock Independent which led investigations into the case at the time and was twice taken to the Independent Press Standards Organisation by the council who claimed Mr Speight and his team, which included the late local journalist Andy Lever, were misreporting facts and unfairly criticising the council. Both complaints were thrown out.

Mr Speight says: "It is understandable that Covid has intervened but I hope the members of the committee will be forthright in ensuring that the new deadlines outlined in the report are adhered to. This issue isn't going to go away until all the improvements are made and validated. There is no suggesting there is anything improper, but this matter will never be brushed away."