'Tick box culture' for social workers must end

---

Front-line social workers should be freed from central government bureaucracy to enable them to focus on the needs of children, according to an independent review.

Staff should be released from targets and red tape which prevent them from learning from mistakes, Professor Eileen Munro, an expert in social policy at the London School of Economic suggested in the report.

The review said local children's services should instead concentrate on what happened rather than why, which is not currently encouraged by the system.

It argued that the system has become preoccupied by individuals "doing things right" rather than "doing the right thing".

The report proposed that Ofsted should be stripped of its role in evaluating reports into the deaths of abused children.

And it calls on the government to revise social worker statutory guidance, which is thought to be 55 times longer than it was 40 years ago.

The review of child protection also proposed that social, health and education services, as well as the police, work together to co-ordinate early help for families to prevent less severe problems escalating to neglect or abuse.

Munro was commissioned last year by education secretary Michael Gove, to consider the system he said was too bureaucratic, unaccountable and obsessed with procedures and targets.

She said: "A one-size-fits-all approach is not the right way for child protection services to operate.

"Top-down government targets and too many forms and procedures are preventing professionals from being able to give children the help they need and assess whether that help has made a difference."

Childrens minister Tim Loughton described the review as "fantastic" and said the government will respond to the report later this year.

He said: "This is the first review of child protection that hasn't been initiated in the wake of a child death or serious case.

"It is now up to the government and the children's sector to work together to look at the recommendations in detail and assess the implications of their implementation in practice for the long term, not as a short-term fix."

In a written ministerial statement, the minister said he is establishing an implementation working group drawing together key individuals from the social work profession, local government, health, police, education and the voluntary sector.

Loughton added: "The government will work closely with this group, whose membership I will announce shortly, to develop a full response to Professor Munro's recommendations before the summer recess."

Ofsted said it was encouraging to see the report's recognition of inspection as a "key contributor in driving improvement in child protection".

Children's commissioner for England Maggie Atkinson welcomed the emphasis that children and young people of all ages needed early intervention and help.

"I particularly support her recommendation to develop and value the expertise of child and family social workers," she said.

Chief executive of Action for Children, Dame Clare Tickell, welcomed in particular the emphasis on the proven effectiveness of early intervention.

Dame Clare said: "We wholeheartedly agree with Professor Munro's recommendation that getting early and local help to children should be a priority.

"We know that quick responses to children's problems work best through the intervention work we do with troubled families across the country.

"We congratulate the government for commissioning this thoughtful and comprehensive review and are confident that the price tag attached to the recommendations will be well worth paying when looked at in the long term, for children and society at large."