- Media & Campaigns
- Press releases
- March 2010
- LGA heralds recognition of councils' vital role in adult care White Paper
- Winter weather review announced - councils respond
- Total Place report an important first step to better local services that cost less - LGA
- Potholes being fixed at record rate - LGA
- Chancellor announces £100m for potholes - councils respond
- LGA responds to council tax announcement
- LGA calls for councils to be 'freed from out-dated rules' on libraries
- LGA responds to Shelter research on housing
- Councils respond to landfill bans
- LGA response to Ed Balls announcement on child social work
- CAA costs 'are climbing' for some, LGA warns
- Councils seek freedom to build up to 500,000 new homes
- Councils respond to Audit Commission report
- Councils already alert to the problem of school admission fraud
- School admissions system stable despite increased pressure because of the recession
- New list published of 250 words the public sector shouldn't use
- Child protection reforms risk weakening safety net, LGA warns
- Microchips in bins - response to Big Brother Watch report
- Councils respond to Taxpayers Alliance pensions report
- Local Innovation Awards announced
- Early research findings show growing need for more social workers
- BBC poll shows tough times ahead for councils
- Delay to personal care at home implementation will ensure efficient service from day one - LGA
Early research findings show growing need for more social workers
LGA media release - March 2 2010
Reforms intended to improve the protection of children instead risk trebling just one part of the workload for social workers and therefore driving more valuable staff away from the profession, new analysis from local government leaders showed today.
The Local Government Association has commissioned research from Loughborough university as part of on-going efforts by councils all over the country to make the safety net which protects children from harm as effective as possible.
A recommendation drawn up in the wake of the baby Peter Connelly case says that any referral from another professional, such as a police officer or health worker, should result in social services carrying out an initial assessment. Initial findings from the research has found that, in a worst case scenario, this requirement could lead to a 300% increase in the number of such assessments some social work teams have to do.
The steep rise, not practically possible at current staffing levels, could mean an estimated 6,300 extra social workers were needed if it was replicated across the country, at a cost of nearly £250 million annually. This is based on each initial assessment taking on average 10 and a half hours to complete.
The figures are among early findings from research being carried out by Loughborough University which examines the implications for local government of enacting all of the recommendations made by Lord Laming in The protection of children in England: a progress report.
Children’s social workers are the staff councils find it hardest to recruit and retain, and the LGA is warning a large number of new recruits cannot be easily rushed into the system because they need to be properly prepared for the demands of the job. The cost of financing such an approach has implications for other parts of children’s services because it could take funding away from preventative work, such as parenting courses, which reduces families’ needs for intervention in the future.
The final Loughborough university report will be used to formulate proposals for how local government can work with Lord Laming’s recommendations, with the ultimate aim of making child protection systems as good as they can possibly be. The next twelve months is expected to be a period when children’s services will continue to be strained by increasing workloads and therefore common sense measures to reduce bureaucracy and focus resources on the front line will be crucial.
Cllr Shireen Ritchie, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People board, said:
“Money cannot and should not be a factor in deciding how this country can best help children grow up safe from cruelty and neglect. Every right-minded person wants to know everything possible is being done to keep children safe from harm, but it would be irresponsible to pretend that there are no financial implications for proposed changes to how we protect children.
“There is no magic wand which can quickly produce thousands more qualified, expert social workers. There is a huge number of dedicated staff at work on the front line making a positive difference to children’s lives every day, but new social workers must be given the time to develop their skills so they can also become top-quality professionals.
“The danger in the meantime is that increasing workloads drive more hard-working social workers to the limit of their endurance. No-one wants efforts to improve child protection to overburden social work teams and lead to more staff leaving.
“That is why the LGA is dedicated to investigating the implications of child protection reforms. The aim now is to find the right way forward, to make services that protect children the best they’ve ever been while properly supporting the people who do this vital work.”
Author: LGA Media Team
Contact: LGA media Office, Tel: 020 7664 3333
ENDS
Notes to editors
Lord Laming’s report, The protection of children in England: a progress report, was drawn up in the wake of the baby Peter Connelly case in Haringey and made a total of 58 recommendations to help improve child protection, all of which were accepted by government. The final results of the Loughborough University research, looking at the implications of the recommendations as a whole, is due out within the next two weeks.
Recommendation 19 (1) in ‘The protection of children in England’ states that: “all referrals to children’s services from other professionals lead to an initial assessment, including direct involvement with the child or young person and their family, and the direct engagement with, and feedback to, the referring professional”
http://publications.everychildmatters.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/HC-330.pdf
An initial assessment is a complex, formal process which requires a social worker to cross-check information from other agencies, work through a series of questions to assess a child’s needs and meet face-to-face with that child.