HUDDERSFIELD MP Barry Sheerman has called for improved communication over vulnerable children to stop others suffering the same fate as Leticia Wright.
Mr Sheerman, who has been elected to head the government’s new Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, wants steps to ensure local authorities share information about kids who could be at risk.
Leticia, four, of Almondbury Bank, Moldgreen, died last year from horrific injuries inflicted by her mother Sharon and her partner Peter Seaton.
The couple were jailed for 23 years each for murder in August.
As reported in the Examiner, an inquiry into the case found that there was no evidence to suggest Leticia had been at risk.
The report said there was no way Kirklees social services could have predicted the tragedy.
But the report did recommend measures to make sure authorities could share information across national boundaries.
The recommendation came after the inquiry found there had been allegations made against Seaton before.
He was accused of assaulting a child in Wexford, Ireland, in 2003.
Mr Sheerman’s committee meets for the first time tomorrow to discuss its programme of activities.
He said Leticia’s death had emphasised the need for change.
He said: “We need to look at how children who are vulnerable or at risk are tracked, as the tragic case of Leticia has highlighted.
“Data flow between and in some local authority areas is very patchy and the question that we have to ask is: how do we link them together?
“We need to build in systems to make sure that information is as accessible as possible.”
Mr Sheerman said the difficulty was with families who were constantly on the move.
He said: “The fly in the ointment is with children who are moved across in international boundaries.
“Families on the move are very difficult to track.
“The world is becoming a much more complex place and we are never going to stop completely tragedies like this, but we can learn crucial lessons from these cases.”
