皇冠体育app

Professor Eileen Munro, author of the Government鈥檚 review of the child protection system, today said a 鈥渃ulture change鈥� was underway in the child protection system but outlined an urgent need to now accelerate reforms to create a more child-centred system.

She said reforms had reached a 鈥渨atershed moment鈥� but, while progress is moving in the right direction, it now needs to move faster with more prescription and bureaucracy stripped away so social workers are able to focus on giving children and young people the help they need.

Professor Munro said social workers must be confident to use their judgment instead of applying rules that do not match a specific child鈥檚 needs.

Professor Munro said:

This report shows an urgent culture change in our child protection system is now underway. We are finally moving away from the defensive rule-bound culture that has been so problematic.

Reforms are rightly moving the focus of help and protection firmly onto children and young people and away from excessive bureaucratic demands.

What is particularly encouraging is that some local authorities are already developing innovative ways of working that are enhancing the quality of help received by families.

I believe there are many front line managers and social workers who now have the confidence to exercise their judgment and provide effective help, based on the individual needs of a child. However, I am concerned there are also some who are uncertain how to do this and I hope the examples of good practice that I have included in this report will lead further change.

Professor Munro highlights the following progress in her report:

• 皇冠体育app removal of fixed assessment timescales. 皇冠体育app experience of the trial authorities who were granted exemptions from these statutory timescales has been positive. 皇冠体育appy report that the additional flexibility has encouraged better, more thoughtful working practices, and better and clearer consideration of priorities.
• Ofsted鈥檚 revised child protection inspection framework. This rightly focuses on the impact and effectiveness of help and protection for children, young people and their families.
• 皇冠体育app report has found many encouraging examples of services working together and with social services to provide better understanding of children鈥檚 needs.
• Important improvements are already being made to initial education, in selecting the right people and training the next generation of social workers.
• 皇冠体育app Government has taken steps to appoint a Chief Social Worker and local authorities are now starting to recruit Principal Social Workers to their teams.

皇冠体育app report calls for faster progress in the following areas:

• A reduction in statutory guidance so that there is more scope for professional and local autonomy. 皇冠体育appre has been a delay in implementing these changes, due to the need for proper public consultation. Once this has been removed services should be better placed to work together to offer improved early help.
• 皇冠体育app Government needs to encourage better understanding between services as reforms take place in health and policing.
• 皇冠体育app importance of implementing all the proposed reforms together in full. Implementing these reforms as a whole will give professionals the scope and skills they require to better protect children.

Welcoming the report Children鈥檚 Minister Tim Loughton said:

I am pleased to hear that our reforms are beginning to fundamentally change the child protection system and we now need to make sure they are implemented as quickly as possible. We agree the pace of reform now needs to be accelerated and are committed to creating a system that is sustainable in the long term.

This report shows progress is being made towards freeing hardworking social workers and other professionals from excessively restrictive structures, procedures and rulebooks so they can do their best for vulnerable children and their families. It is encouraging to see evidence in Professor Munro鈥檚 report that services are increasingly stepping in early, rather than waiting for problems to escalate.

皇冠体育appse reforms go to the heart of our child protection system and require a new mindset and a new relationship between central Government and local services. We are committed to keeping up momentum and doing everything we can to get the right mechanisms in place and to strengthen public confidence. But this is about putting the power of decision making back into the hands of local authorities and they all need to step up to the challenge and be strong and confident leaders who are ready to innovate.

Notes to editors

1. Professor Munro鈥檚 report, , can be found from the publications section.
2. , can be found from the publications section.