Speaking at the National Children and Adult Services conference in Harrogate, Andrew Webb said that children’s services should be judged by very stringent standards, but these standards “must be based on evidence, not an unreal expectation that no harm will ever happen”.
“We must avoid making judgements based on the wonderful clarity of hindsight and our use of language needs to be controlled,” he said.
“We have the country’s chief inspector of children’s services [Sir Michael Wilshaw] describing social workers as ‘pussyfooting around dysfunctional families’: is that an appropriate way to start a debate about state intervention in family life?”
Speaking to CYP Now after the speech, Webb said overly critical judgements can destabilise services. “It creates an environment in which it is harder to recruit and retain staff,” he said.
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