The long-awaited review, which was promised in the Conservative Party’s 2019 general election manifesto, was first announced in January, and officially launched last month.
However MacAlister’s experience in children’s social care has previously been questioned, with critics pointing to the fact that prior to founding Frontline, a fast-track training scheme for social workers set up in 2013, he was a schoolteacher.
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Writing in response to a letter sent by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on 19 February raising a number of concerns about the review, Ford said MacAlister “brings a wide range of experience to this role and was chosen for his understanding of the challenges facing the system and his experience of implementing innovative solutions”.
“Josh was the founder and chief executive of Frontline, a charity set up to recruit, train and support high potential graduates and career changers to become social workers,” she added.
“Before that, he was a teacher, and so he brings a wide range of experience in different sectors and he understands the issues facing some of our most vulnerable children and young people and their families.
“It is common practice for independent reviewers to be directly appointed based on their expertise. Whilst the lead reviewer will ultimately make a final set of recommendations, this will be on the basis of extensive consultation with other groups and individuals with lived experience of children’s social care, whose voices should be heard.“
In relation to separate concerns about the time frame of the review - which is expected to be between 12 and 16 months - being too short to carry out the promised "wholesalre review" of children's social care in England.
Ford moved to make assurances that it will “move at pace to make the urgent change needed to improve the lives of vulnerable children”.
“The work of the review has started immediately and it has already launched a Call for Advice and expression of interest for our expert group. The department will set out the full expected timescales for the review, including when it will be published, shortly.”
Richard Barker, Emeritus Professor of child welfare at Northumbria University said Ford's words have not convinced him of MacAlister's suitability for the position.
It’s a stretch to say that being a teacher for two years (?) and running Frontline counts as ‘a wide range of experience in different sectors’ but that’s @vickyford assessment of @JoshMacAlister https://t.co/uUbyUBiAZ9
— Prof Richard Barker #WearAMask (@swrb1) April 18, 2021
Special Guardians and Adopters Together, a peer support organisation, described the response as “disappointing”.
A disappointing response from @vickyford that really does not address any of the serious concerns that many of us are raising about the review.
— Special Guardians and Adopters Together💙 (@SGandAT) April 18, 2021
It is sad to see people who are so passionate & give their all to a profession spoken down to like this by any parliamentarian. https://t.co/xUPoKuk2do
