Nairo recommends research over removing IRO services from council control
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
The Care Review should consider removing the role of independent reviewing officers (IROs) from within local authority control, according to a new report.
Presenting the report to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, the National Association of Independent Reviewing Officers (Nairo) highlighted the “vital role of IROs in protecting the rights of children in care and promoting their welfare”.
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IROs are appointed by local authorities to scrutinise children's care plans and take into account the views of the child.
The report states: “We believe that it is essential that children and young people in care, amongst the most vulnerable groups of children in the land, have the protection of a powerful and effective reviewing service.
“If such a service were not to be in place, children and young people would be at serious risk of planning drift and breach of essential rights.”
However, Nairo adds that the charity “entirely accepts that there are shortcomings in the service”.
“Performance is patchy and practice is sometimes ineffective. There are serious criticisms of the service from a number of commentators, in particular Ofsted and the judiciary,” the report adds.
“We agree that many of the shortcomings of our service relate to lack of effective challenge when it is needed, which in turn often relates to lack of independence from local authorities,” it states.
Nairo has made a series of recommendations to improve the effectiveness of IRO services, which includes research and discussion around the removal of IRO services from within local authority control.
It adds that: “IROs are often inhibited from effectively challenging the local authority when they believe it is required. We are also aware of many cases where IROs have been subject to improper pressure to endorse the local authority position and challenge is discouraged.”
Further recommendations include:
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Measures to enhance IRO effectiveness in the family court
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Measures IRO teams may take to enhance their effectiveness
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Work within local authorities to ensure independence and efficacy of the IRO service
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Extending the role to cover young people who have left the care system if they would like it.
A longer version of the report presented to the care review panel is set to be published in the coming weeks.