Most influential figures in children’s services policy revealed
Joe Lepper
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Charities Frontline and Teach First have emerged as the best connected organisations to influence government policy on children's services, according to research by academics.
Meanwhile, chair of the children’s social care review Josh MacAlister has been named as the most influential individual in terms of being “highly connected” among ministers and civil servants.
The findings have emerged in research by academics, who are mapping the influence of a raft of organisations and individuals in determining children’s services policy.
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This covers the most influential figures from across public, private and charity sectors.
The research looks at how they are connected, among themselves and within government, as well as their influence on government reviews, looking at areas such as children’s social care and teacher training.
Each is given a score representing their degree of influence on government policy based on the strength of their connections and size of their organisation.
Their research gives teacher training charity Teach First the top score, even above the second placed Department for Education itself.
Behind the DfE is social worker training charity Frontline, while in fourth spot is schools charity Ark.
Other organisations to be considered as highly connected among policy makers and other influencers is education firm Ambition Institute, education group the Fair Education Alliance and the What Works for Children’s Social Care company.
Education charity Education Endowment Foundation, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and online teaching firm Oak National Academy also feature prominently on the map.
As well as MacAlister ranking highly, the Care Review team he chairs is also considered among the most influential organisations.
The academics involved say their research shows that MacAlister is “statistically speaking – the most optimal choice that could have been made” to lead this review, as a leader who can be “the single most efficient chair for galvanising" connections.
However, the academics behind the map point out that organisations that represent social workers are “conspicuous in their absence when it comes to influence”.
They wonder whether a different chair of the Care Review would have “resulted in a more balanced network of social work organisations” involved in having influence over children’s social care policy.
“Or does the fault lie with a failure of social work organisations and individual actors to build or maintain formal networks and coalitions in time leading to the Care Review?” they add.
Teach First’s chief executive Russell Hobby, as well as the charity’s former director James Darley, who is now chief executive of social change organisation Transform Society, are also given high scores among individuals mapped, in terms of influence.Others to feature prominently on the influence list include England’s chief social worker Isabelle Trowler, Labour peer and former minister Andrew Adonis and ex-coalition government minister David Laws.
Leon Feinstein, director of the Rees Centre and professor of education and children’s social care at the University of Oxford, is another to feature prominently on the map.
The academics involved also point out that the high degree of strength of influence on the map can reflect a commitment to transparency in documenting their involvement in policy decisions.
The map has been developed by academics from the universities of Sheffield, Essex, Dundee as well as Northumbria University and the Open University.
“The value and uses of the map include being able to trace these policy connections, recognising the level of influence private organisations have in children’s services, following policy as it moves through this network, and understanding who’s who when it comes to leadership, appointments, contracts, etc,” said the academics involved.
More than 1,000 connections have been collected between May and November this year for the compiling of the map.