Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Wednesday, 25 May 2011.

Children: Ofsted Report

Question: I thank the noble Lord for his reply. In his response, will he consider agreeing with Professor Munro that the current system is far too focused on finding out what happened rather than why and that, in future, the focus should be more on the underlying issues of how the social workers behaved? Will he also agree with me that it should be a statutory duty, and not just guidance, for social workers to see the child alone, in order to ascertain its wishes and feelings?

Answer: My Lords, the Government have welcomed the review by Professor Eileen Munro, which includes the recommendation that my noble friend refers to about looking at the whole way in which serious case reviews work and about moving to a more systems-based approach. The Government are considering their response and have set up a working group of practitioners across different disciplines—not just social work, but the police, education, health and other areas. We will be responding to that and will bear in mind the points made by my noble friend.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 727 c1817-8
Session: 2010-12
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Children Protection Social services Child Protection Review Ofsted
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk