Flagship reforms ‘overloading staff’

Two of the government’s flagship children’s services reforms are increasing practitioners’ workloads and causing anxiety among workers, a new report claims.

Two-thirds of practitioners said the common assessment framework (CAF) and the lead professional role were adding to their workload, according to the independent evaluation published last week.

Most practitioners were comfortable with the lead professional role but less than half felt well supported. There was anxiety about the high level of responsibility attached to the position.

Multiple assessments were being completed in some cases because workers who received the CAF as a referral to their service then carried out their own initial assessment.

But more than half of the practitioners and managers felt the initiatives were promoting better multi-agency working.