A serious case review into the death of murdered toddler Ayeeshia Smith is expected in just three weeks, it has been revealed.
Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Board says it is now getting ready to reveal the results of its independent investigation into the involvement of agencies who met with Ayeeshia and her mother, Kathryn Smith.
Last year, Smith was convicted of murdering her 21-month-old daughter at their home in Britannia Drive, Stretton, more than three years ago. She stamped on her so hard it caused cardiac arrest and a rip to her heart.
The pair had been known to social services throughout Ayeeshia's short life, and the tot was taken into foster care at one point before being returned to Smith.
During the eight-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Derbyshire County Council’s social services came under fire, as well as several other agencies.
After Smith was jailed for life, a serious care review was established to prevent similar horrific events from happening again.
However, it was delayed while Smith unsuccessfully appealed her conviction. The delay led Burton’s MP Andrew Griffiths to urge the board to publish its findings "urgently".
In a letter to Mr Griffiths, Chris Cook, chairman of the Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Board, said: "The board is proposing to publish the serious case review report in the first week of September 2017. This assumes, of course, that there is no additional litigation connected to Ms Smith's appeal which would prevent this."
The news from the Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Board marks the first time an established timeframe has been revealed.
Following Smith's conviction last year, Burton MP Andrew Griffiths raised the matter in Parliament during Prime Minister's Questions and called on the then-Prime Minister David Cameron to make such reviews more independent, because of concerns over how it had been handled.
At the time, Mr Cameron said: "No punishment in the world fits that sort of crime."
He added: "There are criticisms of the way these cases are done but I think to start with in this case we must get on with the serious case review because we've got to get to the bottom of what went wrong."
Tory MP Mr Griffiths told the Burton Mail the outcome of the review was now urgently needed.
He said: "The findings of the serious case review into Ayeeshia’s very sad death must now be published as a matter of urgency. We cannot wait any longer to understand what went wrong and how we can prevent it from happening again.
"Derbyshire Social Services has a responsibility to protect the vulnerable children in its care, and now that the legal process in this case has been completed, it is vital that the outcome of the serious case review is published immediately."
