Honesty needed on level of user voice influence

When seeking views from people with care experience, it’s perhaps most straightforward for a defined purpose – for example, giving young people control over shaping leaving care support, or the Truth Commission for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reflecting the perspective of victims, where multiple mechanisms were created.

But consider input to broad ranging policy – such as for the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care – where there is a wide range of views to gather about many issues, and the complexities, and pitfalls, become evident.

The invitation to be an “experts by experience” adviser for the Care Review generated more than 1,000 applications, but then selection of a handful of people caused controversy. What were the criteria? How was selection carried out? The backlash, perhaps inevitable following the hyperbole promising those with direct experience would be at the heart of the review, made the government wary about how to seek views in future – hence the Department for Education asking children’s charities to nominate individuals to be involved in the implementation planning, a request that appears to have fallen on deaf ears.