WHETHER Blake Fowler would have been alive today if the authorities had taken the action they should have done will never be known for certain.

So for Blake’s extended family, the unequivocal apology that today comes from all those agencies who have been criticised for failing to meet their statutory duty to protect Blake is, in their words, “too little too late”.

No-one has ever faced any criminal proceedings for Blake’s death and no one has been disciplined or lost their job over the failings outlined in today’s report.

After reading the 69-page report documenting the failures, even to heed her own warnings in a letter penned to social workers three months before Blake’s death, his grandmother Jane Extance told the Daily Echo how Blake had been fundamentally let down.

“If I had known half the things in that report, I would have taken him out of there myself. What I did know caused me concern enough to write to the social worker, but they did nothing.

“Nothing can bring Blake back, nothing can make it better for him and what happened to him.”

Speaking about the findings of the report chairman of the LSCB who commissioned the report Keith Makin said: “On behalf of the Southampton Local Children Board, along with colleagues from the council police and health services in the city I would like to say how sorry we are that Blake did not get the help that he needed.”

Daily Echo:

Keith Makin

When asked whether Blake would be alive today, had those opportunities not been missed Mr Makin said: “It is impossible to say.”

Alison Elliott, director of people for Southampton City Council, said sorry for the authority’s “unacceptable failings” and acknowledged that the council was failing to safeguard children.

In response to how the authority can justify allowing a student to deal with Blake’s case following a number of warning signs and missed opportunities to act, Ms Elliott said: “There is no justification for that.”

Daily Echo:

Alison Elliott

However, asked whether anyone in the department has been disciplined for the failures, she confirmed that although one of the social workers identified in the report was no long working for the authority, it was not as a result of this case.

“It is not about blame,” she added.

However, today’s report does blame a series of factors which led to the missed opportunities that could have protected Blake sooner in his life.

The report says the background to the case must be laid out in the context of the long running industrial dispute after the council made reductions to staff terms and conditions of employment.

It states: “This led to an acute shortage of staff and demoralisation. Management arrangements were unstable throughout the organisation. The local authority was taking on too many social work students and not adequately supervising what they were required to do.”

When the Daily Echo questioned in November 2013 whether the dispute had any bearing on the failings in child protection in 2011, the Conservative administration told this paper they did not believe the cuts were to blame but that they would await the findings of today’s report.

However, since 2011, the year which saw three more child deaths which prompted Serious Case Reviews, the department has undergone a radical overhaul.

In 2011 temporary agency social workers accounted for 50 per cent of social workers, now 90 per cent of children and families staff are permanent employees.

Case work has also been reduced from 50 children per social worker in 2011 to between 15 and 25 children today.

The council has also set up an Early Help service with the aim of intervening earlier in offering support to families before they reach a critical stage Last year the Daily Echo reported on how the council has also set up a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub which is a centralised point for all agencies to share and act on information quickly.

Training has also been rolled out across the health agencies as a direct result of Blake’s case.

Stephanie Ramsey, Chief Nurse at Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group said: “We have already been working with our partners in health and other agencies to ensure that recommendations made have been implemented.”

It is that exchanging of information between health workers, police education and social workers that is at the heart of the recommendations in today’s report.

It acknowledges that much work has been done since Blake’s death and today’s publication is to ensure the risks to children in Southampton are minimised.

Ms Elliott said: “Whilst there is no way of excusing the failings of the past, we would like to reassure local residents that we are fully committed to carrying on with these improvements and providing the highest possible standard of children’s services in our city.”

Daily Echo: Blake Fowler

Blake Fowler

Hampshire police has already apologised for their first investigation into the circumstances of Blake’s death which they admitted was flawed.

As exclusively revealed in April last year force bosses said the original inquiry into how the seven-year-old died wasn't good enough and that the performance of several officers had fallen below standard.

The conclusions were drawn following a major review of the case by a specialist team of officers re-examining all lines of enquiry.

The Daily Echo revealed that during the first investigation no file of evidence was ever passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which ultimately decides whether there is a case to answer.

The reinvestigation came in the wake of an inquest held into Blake’s death in November 2013, which raised a number of unanswered questioned from the original investigation.

As a result of the fresh investigation Peter 25, and Phillip, 24, were re-arrested in April on suspicion of murder and causing or allowing the death of a child while Ms Spacagna, 28, was arrested on causing or allowing the death of a child.

However, in December the CPS decided that there were insufficient grounds to press any charges in connection with Blake's death.

In response to today’s report Chief Superintendent Dave Powell said the force had implemented both recommendations made in today’s report in regard to adhering to Child Death Investigation Guidance and that officers dealing with cases like Blake’s now meet national standards in training for Child Death Investigations.