Social Workers Face Intense Retraining Following Baby P

Children’s secretary, Ed Balls, has launched a Whitehall-based plan to improve children’s services, following the Baby P case at Haringey.

Councils will soon be invited to put current and potential directors of children’s services through an intense, year-long ‘leadership programme’ to equip them with the skills to manage increasingly-complicated child protection.

It follows private concerns within Whitehall that some failings exposed by the death of Baby P – which led to the dismissal of Haringey LBC’s director of children’s services, Sharon Shoesmith – could be repeated across the UK, unless action is taken to improve councils’ oversight of vulnerable children. Publicly, Mr Balls has stressed the Baby P case was a one-off, and that most children’s services are adequate but, privately, concerns have mounted.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families told LocalGov sister title, The MJ: ‘Our intention to introduce this course pre-dates Baby P. But, naturally, the failings of the Baby P case heavily informed the content and development of the course.’

Mr Balls and his team are concerned that many directors of children’s services (DCSs) have little experience of managing services beyond the traditional social care and education remit.

Modern child protection also requires expertise in early years care, healthcare, youth justice and policing.

Speaking on 8 January, Mr Balls said: ‘I want to see all future chiefs of local authority children’s services gain experience in areas outside their own specialism. But I also want to make sure all DCSs have the skills and experience they need to provide the dynamic leadership children’s services need.’

The course will be managed by the Whitehall-funded National College for School Leadership, and 24 DCSs will be among the first intake. Mr Balls’ decision to empower a non-departmental public body to oversee the course may have raised local government concerns about Whitehall diktats.

But an LGA spokeswoman said the involvement of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, which would advise the NCSL, had placated council leaders.

Margaret Eaton, LGA chair, said: ‘Poor performance cannot be tolerated and… there needs to be the help and support to ensure that everyone can raise their game.’