Social services chief\'s comments spark anger

Sharon Shoesmith LONDON - Arabstoday     The social services chief sacked over the Baby P scandal provoked fresh outrage Sunday by saying the child\'s death did not mean her organisation was in chaos. In an extraordinary defence, Sharon Shoesmith declared: \"A child dying does not equal a department in disarray.
It does not equal that.\"
She also sparked anger by refusing to say how much blame was attached to her for what happened, saying: \"I\'m not in the blame game. I don\'t do blame.\"

Astonishingly, Shoesmith, who won a court appeal against her sacking on Friday, added that she would be \"absolutely delighted\" to go back to her old job as head of children\'s services in the London borough of Haringey, although she accepted that would not happen.
Shoesmith, 58, is now in line for a huge compensation payout after judges ruled that her dismissal from her £133,000-a-year post was wrong.
They ruled that the sacking in December 2008, ordered by former Labour Education Secretary Ed Balls, was \"procedurally unfair\" because she had not been allowed the chance to defend herself.
The ruling came even though watchdog Ofsted had compiled a damning report into her department after the tragic death of
17-month-old Peter Connelly, who was initially known as Baby P.
But in a BBC interview on Saturday, Shoesmith argued that the tragedy did not mean her department was in disarray and claimed Ofsted \"knew that\".

Challenged to realise that people wanted answers over who was at fault, she said: \"Blame will not produce anything productive\". Instead, she said \"responsibility\" was a much better word than blame, saying she took responsibility for her department.
But Shoesmith added: \"This is much more complex than saying, ‘You are responsible, let\'s sack you, and the whole psyche of the nation can be at peace.\'\" However, she played down reports that she could now be in line for compensation of between £1 million and £2.5 million (Dh6.1 million and Dh15.25 million), saying those were \"amazingly outrageous\" figures.
Last night, Richard Wilson, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Haringey council, said local people would be \"very upset\" by Shoesmith\'s latest remarks.
From / Gulf News