Social work leaders welcome Labour early intervention focus

If elected in May, Labour says it will encourage more collaboration and information sharing at a local level between police and council child protection services as part of plans to develop an early intervention focused safeguarding system.

The plans, announced earlier this week by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, also include a cross-government unit be set up to lead on child protection work.

Commenting on the proposals, The College of Social Work (TCSW) said it welcomed all steps to ensure child protection services are more joined-up and responsive.

Jo Cleary, chair of the TCSW, said: “We were pleased to hear the shadow home secretary place such an emphasis on the preventative agenda in relation to child abuse and neglect.

"Better, stronger family support at the very early stages is crucial, as are properly resourced services such as child and adolescent mental health services.

"Serious case reviews have consistently identified that more effective information-sharing and communication between agencies and teams is key.

"But it is also important to look at the way we commission children’s services in the future to ensure that positive, consistent and safe outcomes for children are achieved.

"Revisiting the inspection framework for children’s services will also be essential. We are not convinced that the current framework is acting as a lever for genuine service improvement."