Social workers and failings in the system of caring for vulnerable children are all over the news today, emphasising exactly how and why this is such an important subject and why journalists need to know how things work and who does what.

The first story is close to home and relates to the death of a 25-day-old baby in Kent and the failings that led to the tragic killing by her violent father. The others relate to the sacking of social workers in Birmingham and the third to a story in Wales.

The common thread in these is how the system failed and the response of the various agencies who characteristically all claim that “lesons have been learned.” Until, presumably, the next time.