Social Work! Pay rises for failure.

Let's see if I have this right - a child is horribly abused and murdered by his mother; investigation shows that government social workers and social agencies who were responsible for this situation were totally incompetent and negligent in their duty - so these very same social workers get a pay raise. Right - sounds perfectly logical to me. Now if it had been a father who had abused and murdered his child under similar circumstances then the social workers would have ..... (I leave it to the reader to fill in the blank.)

Social workers to be given pay rises in wake of Baby P scandal
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:05 PM on 01st December 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232268/Social-workers-given-pay-rises-wake-Baby-P-scandal.html#ixzz0YRfQkUM9


The reforms are an attempt to transform the demoralised profession following the Baby P tragedy

Social workers will receive pay rises under sweeping reforms announced today in an attempt to transform the demoralised and over-stretched profession following the Baby P tragedy.

Higher pay for the most experienced frontline staff is proposed and workers will need a licence to practise.

New social workers will be guaranteed extra support for their first year of work, but will then need to pass an assessment to earn the licence which they can only keep by sticking to a professional code of conduct.

Under the reforms employers will be obliged to provide high quality supervision, ensure workloads are manageable and give staff time for professional development.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Andy Burnham today accepted recommendations in the final report from a Government-appointed social work taskforce which is published today.

The report also recommends the creation of a new National College of Social Work - independent of government - to act as the voice of the profession.

Mr Balls said he would push for the college to be given Royal status as quickly as possible, becoming the first Royal College of Social Work.

The pay of social workers will also be reviewed to ensure wages are appropriate and reflect each person's career development.

Ministers launched the social work taskforce in January to carry out a comprehensive review of the profession in England in the wake of the failings exposed by Baby Peter's death.


In July it published an interim report which painted a picture of over-burdened social workers who feel undervalued and whose training often fails to prepare them properly for the demands of the job.

Social work is struggling to hold its own as a 'durable, attractive' profession, with widespread staff shortages 'seriously compromising' the quality of frontline services, the report said.

The taskforce also highlighted the absence of a single body responsible for promoting the profession and improving standards.

The package announced today also includes:

reforming social work training to ensure all graduates and newly qualified social workers are of a high calibre;
ensuring universities raise the bar for social work degrees with a practice-based masters qualification aimed at keeping the skills and specialist knowledge of all social workers up to date;
creating a new campaign to improve the public understanding of social work;
developing a new system to help employers to better plan and forecast the demand and workload of their social workers.
A Social Work Reform Board will be set up to work alongside the Government to take forward today's recommendations.

An implementation plan will be outlined early next year which will include setting out how the reforms will be resourced and what changes will be needed to legislate.

Moira Gibb, chairwoman of the social work taskforce, has accepted the role of chairwoman of the reform board.

She will launch the taskforce's final report at a press conference today alongside Mr Balls and Mr Burnham.

Today's announcement follows the £58million Social Work Transformation Fund for children's social work announced in May this year.

More than 30,000 people expressed an interest in becoming a social worker after a recruitment campaign fronted by celebrities including Goldie and Samantha Morton.

The Government is investing £109m in the social work workforce over the next two years.

Baby Peter Connelly was just 17-months-old when he died in August 2007 at the hands of his mother, Tracey Connelly, her lover, Steven Barker and their lodger, Jason Owen.

He had suffered 50 injuries despite receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over the final eight months of his life.

A series of reviews identified missed opportunities when officials could have saved the little boy's life if they had acted properly on the warning signs in front of them.