Six years ago this month the Waterhouse Report was published. It listed a catalogue of abuse which children had suffered while in care.
The most extraordinary aspect of the publication of the Waterhouse Report was not the appalling catalogue of abuse or the sheer scale of the whole thing but the mad scramble to check that none of the 28 workers mentioned in the Report was still engaged in childcare. It was a matter of such urgency that local authorities were required to check all their staff and those of services registered with them within 48 hours, to make sure that they were not in contact with children.