Care reforms to challenge services
Tom Lloyd
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Peers have warned that plans to improve services for children in care could place further demands on overstretched social work services.
During the second reading of the Children and Young Persons Bill, Conservative peer Baroness Morris of Bolton said children’s social workers would be crucial to the plans.
“They must be properly respected, trained, motivated and resourced,” she said. “There are still too few dedicated children’s social workers, and vacancy rates in London and the West Midlands are currently running at 18 per cent.”
“This makes it hard to provide the much needed consistency of care and time for essential preventive work. This is a vital area, and one that we will pursue.”
Liberal Democrat peer Baronesss Walmsley said proposals to allow private social work practices risk damaging local authority services.
“There is a danger of these services creaming off the best professional social workers and offering them better pay and conditions, while nearby local authority services suffer,” she said.
