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Children: Laming Report

My Lords, we are thinking very carefully about the point made earlier by the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, about how to get the balance right between support and challenge. We know that we need to ensure that local frontline social workers have a much stronger management engagement, and that that goes right to the DCS and to the chief executive of local authorities, so it is not the newest and least experienced social worker who is out there dealing with the most difficult and most challenging cases; that they feel supported. The noble Earl makes a very important point about training and how appropriate it is for social workers going out into the field. We know that one-third of newly qualified social workers thought that their social work course had prepared them fully. That is only one-third. That compares with 85 per cent of newly qualified teachers. Therefore, we know we can do it. We just have to get it right for social workers.