A serious case review is under way into circumstances around Arthur’s death after it emerged social workers had visited the house in the months before he died and found no cause for concern.

Anna Edmundson, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the NSPCC, warned that other children who still have not returned to classes could be at risk of falling off social services radar.

“We know from the tragic case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and the increase in contacts to our helpline from adults with concerns about the safety of children, that there was an increased risk to some young people while schools were closed during the lockdowns,” she said.

“Worryingly, too many children who are known to be vulnerable are still not attending school and they cannot be allowed to slip off the radar. Authorities need to work together to establish where these vulnerable children are, whether they are safe and well and how they can be supported to be back in school.”

Lord Laming, who led the public inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie and reviewed the case of baby Peter Connelly, said the training of social workers may need to be reviewed to ensure they are able to spot the telltale signs of abuse.

“I think that the quality of the training of social work needs to be looked at again,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

“I think the marked reduction in funding of local authorities in the last 10 years has had a real withdrawal from frontline services and I think it’s become something of a crisis service rather than a preventive service.

“The whole organisation ought to focus on the front line, on what’s happening to children and making sure they intervene earlier rather than later and when it is too late.”