South Wales Evening Post - 16 February 2008
Editorial Comment
The report into the death of Aaron Gilbert found failings on the part of all the agencies involved.
The report into the provision of social services for children and young people in Swansea highlighted a number of problems.
The votes of no confidence in council followed debates on BOTH reports - so it is not good enough for the administration at County Hall to accuse its opponents of "playing politics" over a child's death.
But it is clear that Labour ambushed the administration. We can speculate whether this was done by design, or by taking advantage of the fact that there were more Labour councillors than administration members present.
It does beg the question why Labour was able to get its members there and the administration was not. Labour leader David Phillips was quick to suggest it was because some administration members did not want to be seen supporting Councillor Fitzgerald.
The votes may have no constitutional weight, but the questions raised about the decline in quality of provision of social services for young people deserve answers.
We invite the cabinet member to do so - through the medium of this newspaper's pages - if she wishes.
