Caleb Ness was killed in October 2001

The trade union's Edinburgh branch said the O'Brien report into the death of Caleb Ness was full of "contradictions, dubious conclusions and inaccuracies".

It believes the report needs to be analysed more carefully before changes are made in child protection services.

Branch secretary John Stevenson said it was time for a "critical debate".

He accused the Labour leadership of Edinburgh City Council of being "too hasty" to accept all the recommendations contained within the report.

He said: "Many people across the profession are beginning to raise concerns about this inquiry and the dangers of it being used to remodel child protection services."

Shaken to death

The 260-page independent inquiry was undertaken by the Edinburgh and Lothians Child Protection Committee under the chairmanship of Susan O'Brien QC.

Published formally in October 2003, it detailed failings in the system following the death of baby Caleb, who was subject to child protection orders.

Caleb, from Edinburgh, was 11 weeks old when his father Alexander Ness shook him so violently it caused fatal injuries in 2001.

He was subsequently jailed for 11 years for culpable homicide.

The Unison branch, which plans to hold a conference on the issue, criticised some of the report's 35 recommendations and "lack of understanding of the law covering child protection".

If the report is to be used as a benchmark for changing child protection services, we believe that would be quite dangerous practice John Stevenson, Unison

Mr Stevenson also suggested that when politicians first made statements about the report, they had not been given ample time to read it.

He said: "The report was published first thing in the morning and by 1100, the main politicians had made statements about it, when clearly they had not read it."

He also criticised the report for having failed to call on former social work chief Les McEwan to give evidence to the inquiry.

He said the report failed to take account of the lack of resources staff were having to contend with, and that they failed to appreciate the complicated legal processes which would have been necessary to remove Caleb from his family.

'Fundamental failings'

He said: "It is not a discredited inquiry, but it verges on sensationalism.

"We do think that some of the language was intemperate and some of the conclusions unwarranted.

"If the report is to be used as a benchmark for changing child protection services, we believe that would be quite dangerous practice."

Councillor Donald Anderson, leader of the city council, said: "The report did show some fundamental failings in the system and we need to put that right with appropriate structures and support.

"We will await further details of Unison's comments before responding further to their claims."