Be thankful for an unradical, quite sensible social work bill

During my professional career, I have from time to time found myself newly responsible for an unfamiliar area of work. It’s always seemed sensible to me to start by talking to expert colleagues, and to read around the subject to gain a general understanding. That process has always included going back to the original source material and reading the underlying legislation. I have on my bookshelf a variety of Acts of Parliament with post-it notes showing the evolution of my ignorance into some degree of knowledge on topics as varied as school admissions and inspections.

So when I became a corporate parent, I followed my usual practice, only to discover that the term “corporate parent” had no statutory definition. I fell back on a combination of advice from colleagues and common sense. There are, of course, both advantages and disadvantages in coming across a new area, as you can think about issues in new ways, though you don’t have the benefits of generations of experience.