The chief executive of Lancashire County Council (LCC) has apologised for the authority’s role in the systemic failings that preceded the Southport knife attack, after a public inquiry identified multiple failures by agencies involved with the attacker, Axel Rudakubana.
The Southport Inquiry’s Phase 1 report found a ‘fundamental failure’ by any organisation or multi-agency arrangement to ‘take ownership’ of the risk Rudakubana posed before the 2024 attack, in which three young girls were killed.
The report found that LCC’s Children’s Social Care repeatedly stepped down Rudakubana’s case to its non-statutory Early Help service, reducing the level of intervention provided.
While it acknowledged that Rudakubana’s parents created ‘significant obstructions’ to agencies trying to engage with their son, it concluded that agencies ‘must be prepared to deal with parents who – through a mixture of inability, difficulty and unwillingness – are ill-equipped to address the risks of violent children.’
It concluded that it is ‘highly likely’ the attack would not have occurred if appropriate arrangements and reasonable resources had been in place to address the risk posed by Rudakubana.
The inquiry made 67 recommendations in total. Among those directed at LCC is a call for a comprehensive review of how its children’s services and Early Help teams assess and manage risk, including online harms to children.
Mark Wynn, LCC’s chief executive, said: ‘We are deeply sorry for the failures identified and for the part we played in the systemic shortcomings that preceded the attack in Southport. We know that no words can ease the grief of the families who lost loved ones, or the pain of those who were injured and traumatised.’
Wynn added that the council had made ‘substantial changes’ to its safeguarding practice since 2019 and committed to implementing all recommendations directed at the authority in full.
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