Labour MP John Grady has called for a full independent public inquiry into the treatment of vulnerable children in Glasgow after an official learning review identified multiple failures by the city council and other public bodies.
The Glasgow East MP has written to the Scottish Government demanding independent scrutiny of the Family C case, in which children suffered serious neglect and abuse over a 12-year period.
The Learning Review Report found there had been a series of missed opportunities for social workers, health visitors and other professionals to intervene and protect the children. According to Grady, the abuse included child sexual abuse, attempted murder and other serious crimes.
Grady raised the case at Westminster, telling the House of Commons that protecting children in Glasgow must be the priority.
Writing following his intervention, he said:
“The safety of children in Glasgow must be the priority. A recent official report identifies serious failures by Glasgow City Council and others.
“There must be independent scrutiny of this. I have written to the Scottish Government to call for a Public Inquiry.”
Grady said the findings of the Learning Review were sufficiently serious that an internal response would not provide the level of scrutiny required.
He has written to Siobhian Brown MSP, Scotland’s Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, urging the Scottish Government to establish an independent public inquiry covering both the individual case and the wider systemic issues identified by the review.
The Labour MP said: “The LRR highlighted multiple failings by Glasgow City Council departments and other public bodies.”
He added that there had been “several missed opportunities” for professionals to intervene, concluding: “A full independent inquiry is essential.”
The issue has subsequently also been raised within Glasgow City Council. Councillors agreed last month to formally apologise to the children involved in the Family C case, while calls for an independent inquiry have continued.
Grady’s intervention puts additional pressure on the Scottish Government to determine whether the failures identified in the review warrant a wider statutory investigation.
For the Glasgow East MP, the central question is not only what went wrong in this particular case, but whether failures across different agencies point to wider problems in Scotland’s child protection system that require independent examination.
Grady is arguing that only a genuinely independent process can establish how so many opportunities to protect vulnerable children were missed, ensure accountability and identify the changes necessary to prevent similar failures happening again.
