The Munro Report, and its impact on social workers…

21st June 2011

In May this year, the final report from the Munro Review of Child Protection was published. We asked Natalie, a social worker in a Children’s Referral & Assessment team in London, to give her reaction, and discuss some of the key implications of the review for front-line social workers…

“Following the tragic deaths of Khyra Ishaq, Peter Connolly and numerous other children known to Children’s Services, there appears to be a crisis of confidence in the nation’s Child Protection system. Social Workers are often the first to point out the system’s flaws so there was a palpable optimism when it was announced that Professor Eileen Munro (an experienced social worker and academic) would be undertaking a comprehensive review of the Child Protection System.

After months of consultation (including the controversial move of appointing Deirdre Sanders of ‘Dear Deidre’ fame to the Task Force), the final report was published in May 2011. There were 15 recommendations made, many of which encouraged a move away from what Munro astutely calls ‘compliance culture’. As practising social workers, we all know what she means; a sense of achievement being derived from completing a Core Assessment in 35 days, regardless of the outcome for the child. Shifting the emphasis away from performance indicators will free up social workers to get back to what they entered the profession to do: to get to know families, identify solutions and to assist the families in putting these solutions into practice.

Munro also argues that there should be a change in the way we carry out Serious Case Reviews. At present, she says, there is too much emphasis on what went wrong and not enough emphasis on why. It is understanding why mistakes are made that will allow us to prevent them from occurring again.

Another recommendation and one which attracted much attention was Munro’s suggestion that we should appoint a ‘Chief Social Worker’ who would advise the government on social care matters as well as appointing ‘Principle Social Workers’ in every Local Authority to act as the voice of front-line workers. The report indicates that the creation of these new Principle Social Work roles should be part of a wider evolution in the career pathway of a Social Worker. Instead of being directed towards management or Reviewing Officer roles, Munro argues that there should be scope for Social Workers to develop and progress through roles which retain front-line duties. This will come as a welcome suggestion for experienced workers who do not view management as a relevant use of their skills and expertise.

The report also suggests that inspection and monitoring of Child Protection Services should be unannounced, a recommendation which will be welcomed by public and professionals alike. The need for unannounced inspections was demonstrated by our colleagues in Adult Services following the recent Panorama documentary which exposed the abusive practices at one private care facility. Announced inspections create a top-down anxiety and lead Local Authorities to project an image of itself which is not always accurate.

But like all Munro’s recommendations, changes to inspection practises will cost money, money we are encouraged to believe does not currently exist. With funding to Local Authorities set to be cut by 28% over 4 years it is difficult to see how these well intended recommendations will ever come to fruition. The responsibility, then, falls back to individual managers and social workers to ensure their practice is as thorough, evidence-based and ethical as it possibly can be – a responsibility which costs nothing.”

What do you think – Do you agree with the findings of the Munro review? How feasible will it be to implement its recommendations? Please let us know by sharing your views below…