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divdiv class=story-body readability=39 span class=story-date#13; span class=date13 November 2013/span#13; span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time07:45 ET/span#13; #13; /span#13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The government has strongly criticised a report that said a four-year-old boy starved to death after being let down by national systems./p#13; pHamzah Khan's body was found in his Bradford home in 2011, almost two years after he died./p#13; pHis mother Amanda Hutton, 43, was jailed for 15 years last month after being found guilty of manslaughter. /p#13; pChildren's Minister Edward Timpson said the report a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/13_11_2013_bradfordseriouscase_letter.pdfdid not explain why chances to protect Hamzah were missed./a/p#13; pHe said he had deep concerns about the serious case review because it fails to explain sufficiently clearly what actions social workers took when problems in the Khan family were brought to their attention./p#13; span class=cross-head'Glaring absences'/span#13; pHe said the answers to the glaring absences from the review must be made public to ensure such mistakes will not be repeated in the future./p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=4#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2Analysis/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pThe serious case review's findings that national systems let Hamzah Khan down has provoked a very forthright response from the government./p#13; pA minister has demanded the answers to questions which relate to missed opportunities to protect Hamzah and his siblings. /p#13; pHe is basically saying the report is not good enough and those behind it need to go back to the drawing board./p#13; pWhen the government demands quick answers - and for those answers to be made public- they will have to get them. /p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; /div p id=story_continues_2Professor Nick Frost, chairman of Bradford Safeguarding Children Board, said the review was very clear that Hamzah's death could not have been predicted./p#13; pHe said it found that systems - many of them national systems - let Hamzah down both before and following his death./p#13; pHe added: I cannot give assurance that a tragedy like this will never happen again./p#13; pResponding to Mr Timpson's criticism, Kath Tunstall, strategic director of children's services in Bradford, said there was absolutely no attempt to whitewash./p#13; pShe added: We are determined to improve, we are constantly wanting to learn and improve./p#13; pIf the minister is going to assist us with that by asking more challenging questions then we welcome that./p#13; pThe report said a theme of the case review was the extent to which Hamzah was unknown and invisible to services throughout his short life./p#13; pIt added that Hamzah was invisible to services largely because neither of his parents participated in the routine processes./p#13; pThe NSPCC's head of policy David Tucker said: I have never heard before in any serious case review of a child being so completely lost./p#13; pDuring Hutton's trial, Bradford Crown Court heard how the mother-of-eight was living in breathtakingly awful conditions with five of her young children as well as Hamzah's mummified remains./p#13; #13; pThe boy's body was found after a police community support officer became concerned about children at the house while she was investigating reports of soiled nappies being thrown into a neighbour's garden./p#13; pOfficers who later found Hamzah were also faced with an overwhelming smell coming from ankle-deep rubbish in the house, including vodka bottles and rotting food./p#13; pThe court was told the family was known to all the main agencies yet Hutton had a history of failing to co-operate with services that could have helped her. /p#13; pProf Frost stressed that it was Hutton who was responsible for Hamzah's death./p#13; pHe said: In my 35 years of involvement in children's services, I have never come across a case that can even be compared to this one./p#13; p id=story_continues_3He said there was a unique combination of events: a mother who was determined not to co-operate even with the most necessary and essential of services./p#13; pHe said Hutton had managed to mislead professionals and relatives about the whereabouts of Hamzah./p#13; pNancy Palmer, independent chairwoman of the serious case review, said: It is important to be clear that Hamzah died because he was neglected by his mother./p#13; pShe added the panel concluded information known to agencies at the time does not suggest that Hamzah's death was a predictable event./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center