England can learn from joint working in other parts of the UK, say social workers

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has called on the Local Government Association to look to the Getting it Right for Every Child model in Scotland, which covers all children's and adult services in which children are involved.

It requires all services including social work, health, education, police, housing and voluntary organisations to adapt their systems to improve how they work together to support children and young people.

Ruth Stark, BASW's professional officer for Scotland, said: "It puts the needs of the child at the centre of everyone's work. It is working and it is improving things for children in Scotland."

Stark added that England could also learn from systems in Northern Ireland and Wales, which she said had fewer serious incidents where children have suffered as a result of poor practice.

The call comes after the Local Government Association (LGA) drew up a five-point action plan following the publication of the Loughborough University research, which includes calls for agencies such as police and health services to play a bigger role in safeguarding practice.

BASW chief executive Hilton Dawson said: "The LGA could learn from some excellent models of social work practice, such as the 'team around the child' approach used in Scotland."