Unison, the union for social workers, has warned that it is only a matter of time before another child suffers the same fate as Victoria Climbie.

In its evidence to the second stage of the Laming Inquiry, the union is calling on the government to take action in order to tackle the lack of resources and shortage of skilled staff in social services.

Forum Response: Unison

Owen Davies, Unison's national officer for social workers, told ePolitix.com: "It is time for the government and local authorities to face up to their responsibilities and put enough resources into social services to ensure that what happened to Victoria Climbie never happens again.

"Crisis management is the day to day reality of staff working in social services and they are being stretched beyond the limit. There is no doubt in my mind that these factors played a key part in the case of Victoria Climbie and I fear that unless urgent action is taken, it is only a matter of time before another child is murdered."