Making children’s services leadership more diverse

When she was appointed in 2010, Meera Spillett was one of five directors of children’s services in England from black, Asian and minoritised ethnic backgrounds.

More than a decade later, and the picture has changed somewhat. The latest data from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) shows there were at least 11 directors of children’s services from racially diverse backgrounds as of September 2023.

Of 115 directors or children’s trust chief executives who took part in the ADCS’s annual survey, five identified as mixed or multiple ethnicity, four as Asian and two as black.

“There is progress, but it is at a glacial pace,” says Spillett. “It is not going to improve until people in these senior leadership groups, which are majority white, look around the room and say ‘Why are we so over-represented?’”

A 2021 survey of nearly 2,000 social workers from children’s and adults’ social care found 28% had experienced racism from colleagues or managers at least once in the previous year.

The survey by sector coalition the Anti-Racism Steering Group found 9% had experienced racism from colleagues or managers at least five times in the past year, increasing to 31% of black practitioners and 28% of Asian professionals.

Meanwhile, 37% of survey participants reported experiencing racism from service users or families at least once in the past 12 months.

Spillett, who was recognised with a lifetime achievement award for social work, co-founded the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI) in 2012 for The Staff College to help black and Asian children’s services professionals overcome barriers to career progression.

‘‘I don’t think I’ve had a BALI member who hasn’t experienced discrimination,” she says. “It’s harder for them to get on, they are more likely to have disciplinaries, disproportionately fail assignments – they are blocked at every level.”

Nearly a quarter of all social workers are from black, Asian and minoritised ethnic – also known as global majority – backgrounds.

A 2023 Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard report found staff from global majority backgrounds were half as likely as white staff to have been appointed from shortlists but were 40% more likely to enter formal disciplinary processes.

“We need diversity across the workforce and at all levels so staff are responsive to communities and work with them in a waythat meets their needs,” says BALI co-lead associate Christine Wint.

The London borough of Lewisham has a diverse population where around 70% of children are from a variety of racially diverse backgrounds.

“About 60% of our children’s services workforce is black, so a child in need is more likely to be supported by an adult who understands their background – and that’s really important,” says Lewisham director of children’s services Pinaki Ghoshal.

“The next step is to ensure better representation at senior leadership level. We have a lot of middle tier leaders with black African/Caribbean heritage and are trying to support them through mentoring and training with a focus on the next step in their careers.”

While senior leaders and HR departments may be keen to see people from diverse backgrounds moving up the career ladder, Wint says middle managers can be less supportive.

“Sometimes middle managers are the ones who don’t put people forward and senior leaders may not know what is going on,” she says.

When there is just one person from a global majority background in a leadership role, there is also a tendency to think there isn’t an issue, she adds.

A 2023 Foundations report on how to improve services for racially minoritised children and families – based on discussion with local authority staff – highlighted the importance of leadership, workplace culture, training, recruitment and career progression for black, Asian and minoritised ethnic employees.

“What came through was the importance of having leadership involved, having a strategy and an action plan and – importantly – checking on progress,” says report co-author Ben Lewing.

Participants also talked about the need to challenge unconscious bias and overt discrimination on an ongoing basis rather than relying on annual refresher training, says fellow co-author Jo Flanagan. “But people need to feel confident to do that in the workplace,” she says.

In Lewisham, the senior management team and all team managers have had anti-racism training and tackling racism is one of six core ambitions across children’s services, led by Ghoshal and developed with staff and managers through a top down, bottom up approach. This is backed by a series of operational plans for areas such as social care, schools and early help.

Lewisham also has an anti-racist practice networking and safe space group, set up by anti-racist lead Karen Morgan and described as “exemplary” in a recent Ofsted report.

“Our role as leaders is to ensure there is training in place,” says Ghoshal. “But we must also ensure there are opportunities for staff to meet and share traumas and concerns in a safe space.”

The council also practices “blind recruitment” – which includes removing names and other identifying details from CVs and job applications – and is committed to ensuring global majority staff are represented on recruitment panels.

Ghoshal says he pays close attention to the diversity of shortlists for different roles.

Having the right data on both workforce and children is key to efforts to promote equality and tackle discrimination, says Laurelle Brown, who advises councils on anti-racist practices. She uses workforce data to highlight recruitment biases.

“It might be that a local authority had 100 black, Asian or minoritised ethnic candidates apply, interviewed 75 and appointed none, and that has happened across the past five roles,” she says. “You show them the evidence and they’re shocked.”

Many highlight issues with data and the tendency to place diverse groups into a single BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) category.

“When I arrived in Lewisham, much positive work was being done and a lot of our data recorded BAME, which is a pretty useless category because it hides a whole pile of things,” says Ghoshal.

“What are children’s ethnicities exactly and what does that show in the way of under- or over-representation?”

Brown says people are afraid of getting things wrong and this can get in the way of open discussions.

“There is a lot of anxiety and fear,” she says. “People want to change things, but often don’t know how to talk about cultural identity.”

The independent review of children’s social care in England in 2022 highlighted “a lack of focus on supporting the progression of ethnic minority leaders” and called on the Department for Education to strengthen existing leadership programmes.

The DfE says it is working with local authorities to help them improve diversity in children’s services leadership roles though schemes such as the Upon programme for new and aspiring directors of children’s services.

A key aim of the programme is to increase diversity in leadership across a range of protected characteristics and socio-economic backgrounds, says a DfE spokeswoman.

However, there are questions about the government’s commitment to promoting diversity after the Department for Health and Social Care announced it would cease funding the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard.

This tracks outcomes for black, Asian and minoritised ethnic staff in local authority children’s and adults’ social care departments in areas such as training, progression and disciplinaries. It has since been taken on by workforce development body Skills for Care.

Locally, there are examples of good practice. A Leadership in Colour programme commissioned by the ADCS aims to boost progression of global majority staff and is now in its third year.

This includes access to the BALI programme, which has been successful in supporting participants into senior roles including service director and assistant director of children’s services posts.

The Leadership in Colour programme also provides workshops, a conference and tools to help authorities assess their progress.

These include a dashboard based on children’s social work workforce data that shows job grades and ethnicity data for each borough’s workforce to prompt discussion between leaders and the workforce.

Individual authorities across the countryare developing specific roles around anti-racist practice.

Essex County Council’s children and family services department now has a service manager for anti-racist practice supported by an anti-racist working group.

Brighton & Hove City Council has made a whole-council commitment to becoming an anti-racist local authority. It has an anti-racist action plan and project board within children’s services.

Children’s services in the London Borough of Hackney have an anti-racist action plan, which includes a dedicated senior leadership role and anti-racist practice standards with training for the entire workforce.

John Pearce, ADCS immediate past president, made diversity a key focus of his year in charge. “Supporting efforts to improve diversity across local authority children’s services remains a key priority for the ADCS,” he says.

Most recently, the body set up an internal diversity and inclusion working group “to better understand our role in this space and ensure issues around diversity, equity and inclusion are woven throughout the work that we do”, he adds.

“We’re committed to highlighting issues of disproportionality, discrimination and systemic barriers that limit opportunity where they exist, and engaging with partners who are leading on this work across children’s services,” says Pearce.

BALI’s Christine Wint believes the Black Lives Matter movement and inequalities highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic and Grenfell Tower fire have prompted a shift in awareness and attitudes in the sector and society as a whole.

“We are now seeing a generation that wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with global majority counterparts and is saying ‘This isn’t right; we need to do something’,” she says.

Millie Kerr

Strategic anti-racist lead – business Improvement, Brighton & Hove City Council

• Qualified as a social worker in 1994, working in children’s and adults’ services

• Was an acting team manager before securing a permanent role in 2010

• Was anti-racist lead practitioner at Brighton & Hove for three years before being promoted to strategic lead in August 2023

I grew up in a black Caribbean, working class family. From a young age, I saw differences in the treatment and expectations of black people. Teachers suggested I should consider a career in childcare, but I wanted to be a social worker. If someone told me I couldn’t do something, it made me more determined to prove them wrong.

I did not see myself in a leadership or strategic role until a manager provided me with an opportunity to showcase what I could do.

Global majority social workers and, in particular, black women can wait longer for promotion than their white counterparts. Even when I’d secured a team manager role and was considering a head of service role, I was told: “Maybe next time when you have a bit more experience.” Black workers are often told to undertake more training or development.

I have experienced discrimination, inequity, racism, gaslighting and microaggressions at work including being passed up for promotion. I have heard people say things like “black people don’t interview well, they are not as intelligent” or “you don’t sound black on the phone”. These continuous knock-backs have a huge impact on people’s confidence.

I’ve had some great managers throughout my career and some bad ones. The good ones have supported my career development through guidance, mentorship and coaching. Undertaking leadership modules and an MA in advanced professional practice further developed my social work leadership skills, thinking and practice. Attending the BALI programme cemented my belief in myself, my leadership abilities and in my self-worth.

Children’s services need global majority staff in more senior leadership positions – especially black women. This in turn will assist in breaking down stereotypes and misconceptions.

Representation at the top is not enough if global majority staff are isolated in their role, so white leaders also need to work on enhancing their understanding of anti-racist practice.

I will continue doing whatever I can to influence social work practice and ensure representation means more than meeting a diversity quota or ticking a box.

Rashida Forbes

Principal social worker and learning and development lead, Brent Council

• Qualified as a social worker in 2008 then worked in frontline child protection, looked-after children and leaving care for several local authorities

• Gained first management post in 2015

• Appointed principal social worker in 2022

 I did not aspire to be in a leadership role in social work for many years after qualifying – partly because I did not see many who looked like me to even think it possible.

I began to lean towards management after informally coaching less experienced staff. When an opportunity arose in 2015 to be part of a pilot scheme and manage a small team using innovative, systematic practice with families, I successfully applied for the role.

As part of that pilot, I had a coach, who helped me think creatively when supporting children and families, and recognised my strengths as a leader and manager.

I entered the profession quite young and have experienced discrimination on the basis of my age, gender and race – but did not always recognise it as such at the time. I believed I was not good enough to apply for certain roles and when I was promoted, suffered from imposter syndrome.

Progress is slow in ensuring senior leadership in children’s social care is more inclusive and representative of our communities. There is a lot of pressure on global majority leaders who feel they simply must not fail.

My advice for those wanting to progress would be to seize opportunities that come your way. It is easy to talk yourself down – “they will never shortlist me” or “I have never done that before”. But many leaders – including many male, white leaders – got where they are today not by being more qualified or experienced, but because they saw an opening and went for it.

Dheeraj Chibber

Corporate director for children, families and education, Luton Borough Council

• Qualified as a social worker in 2006. Worked in child protection in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire

• Became a team manager then head of service at Hertfordshire County Council

• Became assistant director for social care at the London Borough of Merton in 2021. Appointed director of children’s services in Luton in May 2023

I was born and brought up in India and did my schooling there. I came to the UK to study engineering, but went on to do a social work degree. I was keen to work with children having witnessed the impact of poverty and abuse in my home country.

I didn’t always see myself in leadership/management/strategic roles. But my identity – including my gender identity – had a part to play in needing to be the “bread winner” and provide for my family. So I was drawn towards management.

After leaving my first local authority and spending a few months as an agency social worker, my former manager suggested I apply for the deputy manager post. I remember asking her “Do you think I’m ready?” to which she responded: “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t think so.”

It was through her guidance and support that I rose to team manager and later practice manager in the same authority. With her support and encouragement, I went for my third head of service role elsewhere and got the job.

As a head of service, my director of children’s services and assistant director suggested I enrol on the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI) programme. Being with people with similar experiences of biases and discrimination opened my eyes to things I was ignoring and gave me a sense of belonging.

Microaggressions come in many forms. I have been told I have managed to “blag my way” into certain jobs. Colleagues I thought I got on well with raised concerns behind my back rather than speaking to me first.

I was once asked if I translate Hindi to English in my head before I speak. I was even told that a particular local authority wasn’t ready for a black or Asian senior leader when a vacancy became available.

Unconscious – and sometimes conscious – biases are a phenomenon the global majority must navigate through. We have many opportunities available to us that we need to be brave enough to take. My chief executive placed his full trust in me when it came to building my team from scratch.

Luton has come a long way in recognising and taking positive action around various strands of our people strategy. We have a particular focus on diversity and inclusion, and are developing our recruitment processes to ensure anti-racist approaches are embedded.

As a sector, we need more BALI programmes, more mentoring and coaching – ideally from people with lived experience – role modelling, and active and meaningful engagement with staff to help generate more ideas and action.

When George Floyd was murdered, it was a watershed moment. Some of us pushed to create platforms to enable staff to speak out, share experiences, learn from one another and even develop “reverse mentoring” opportunities.

My advice to global majority social workers is: don’t be afraid. Look into career progression opportunities and seek out mentors. Speak to your line manager about what the role involves. For senior management roles, think about who you need to talk to to understand the job, context and key relationships.

Above all, take pride in your identity and your roots. Be true to yourself, not what you think others need to see.

Diane Benjamin

Director of children’s social care, London Borough of Hackney

• Has worked in children’s social care for more than 20 years in various local authority roles

• Was a team manager before moving into senior management at the London Borough of Waltham Forest

• Appointed director of children’s social care in Hackney in 2021

I went into social work to try and make a difference – no matter how small – and had a passion for working with children and families. I didn’t see myself in a leadership role but wanted to change the way we did things, so was encouraged to apply and found I enjoyed managing people and getting the best out of them.

I have always had good role models and had two particular managers who encouraged me. Without them, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to apply for leadership roles. I also attended the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI) course and that helped me see myself as a leader.

I have experienced discrimination and racism at work. At one meeting, I was mistaken for an admin assistant. “Because you are black, we assumed you were taking the minutes,” I was told. I have been in meetings where my contributions were greeted with eye rolling from white colleagues, were completely ignored or repeated by someone else.

This made me feel “less than” and “othered”. I lost confidence, doubted my abilities, and felt marginalised and vulnerable within the workplace.

I work in a local authority area where most of the community are from black and global majority backgrounds and to see someone who looks like them in a leadership role is so important.

However, I think black and global majority staff are often seen as less able. We are not encouraged to apply for senior roles, not offered mentors or given the opportunity to undertake training. We need to ensure opportunities for all.

Workplaces also need to create psychological safety and the environment to have difficult conversations about race and racism. In my local authority, we recognise there is trauma within the workforce and the workforce needs to heal. We are doing this in various ways including training, listening to voices, anonymous recruitment, workplace forums, having anti-racist practice standards and hosting conferences on race and racism.

We have rolled out action learning sets on anti-racist practice for all practitioners and have developed a speak up, speak out pilot to create a forum for black and global majority people to have a forum to discuss issues of race, racism and discrimination. We have also rolled out anti-racist supervision.

My advice to social workers is to get the support of others – these don’t necessarily need to be people in your organisations. Knowing you have a group of people to contact in times of crisis or if you just need a chat is essential. Crucially, it’s never too early to have a mentor who can assist in guiding your career journey.