Hug a Social Worker By Tim Loughton MP
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| Hug a Social Worker Conservative Party Commission on Social Workers October 2007 By Tim Loughton MP  Dear all It was almost a year ago [link PDF] now that I set up the Commission on Social Workers and wrote to you asking whether you would be able to contribute to the evidence we were setting out to gather on how the image, role and status of social workers needed to change. I am most grateful to all of you for taking the time to share you expertise with us and contributing to the work of the Commission – whether it was via written evidence or one of our oral evidence sessions. Without your contributions our report could never have been written. I shall be launching the findings of the report tomorrow at the ADSS/LGA conference in Bournemouth – you may remember this is same place that I launched the start of the Commission last year. I have attached a copy of the report to this email. I do hope you find it of interest - thank you again for your assistance. Yours, Tim Loughton MP (2010) Minister for Children Full report PDF doc Commission on Social Workers No More Blame Game – The Future for Children’s Social Workers Membership of the Commission The Patrons to the Commission: Lord Laming of Tewin Baroness Butler-Sloss of Marsh Green Chairman of the Commission: Tim Loughton MP, Shadow Minister for Children Commission Panel Members: Allan Bowman Terry Butler CBE Felicity Collier Dr Ash Chand Mark Houston Melanie P K Gill The Baroness Morris of Bolton OBE Polly Neate Alastair Pettigrew Cllr Shireen Ritchie Carolyn Steen Professor June Thoburn CBE Clerk to the Commission and Report Editor: Flick Drummond After a hectic few weeks’ work by our highly expert Social Worker Commission, we have made our submission to Lord Laming for his inquiry into children’s services, ordered following the death of Baby P. The Commission’s report builds on our 2007 Green Paper No More Blame Game and sets out our plans for shoring up child protection by improving recruitment, retention, training, and support for Britain’s committed but beleaguered social workers. Last night was an excellent opportunity to launch the report because we had finally secured an Opposition Day Debate on Child Protection. Regrettably, yet again, we had to debate this crucial issue on Opposition time – something that’s been the case ever since the Government appointed a Children’s Minister. I was very keen to press the point that bureaucracy is increasingly tying social workers to their desks when they need to be out talking to those they care for, and to other professionals. The current Integrated Children’s System (ICS) which almost all social workers are now obliged to use to log children’s data is here a serious problem for professionals. The Commission has called for the current template to be overhauled and simplified on the advice of those who use it and last night I urged the Government quickly to do the same. We also pushed the Government particularly hard on the issue of transparency. At the moment the full versions of serious case reviews into child deaths are kept confidential; we’re pressing for them to be made public, with anonymity protected, so that everyone can learn from each other’s mistakes and so that we can have proper accountability. I told Ed Balls that Conservative-controlled Birmingham had agreed to make their reviews public in future and offered him an intervention to say he’d encourage Labour councils to do the same. Alas, no intervention. So far reception to our report has been warm indeed with a host of approving emails and calls. Hopefully it will be of help to Lord Laming and, ultimately, to social workers up and down the country on whom so very many needy families and children rely. |
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