Government pledges swift response to taskforce report

The government has pledged to respond to the Social Work Task Force’s report in a similar manner to its swift response to Lord Laming’s report on child protection.

Children’s minister Baroness Delyth Morgan, speaking at Community Care LIVE Children and Families today (18 November) was asked about the government’s timeframe for action once the taskforce has made its report, expected in the next few weeks.

Morgan said: “We in the government would be very foolish if we didn’t listen closely to the taskforce and act as best we can on their report.”

She pointed to the government’s immediate promise to implement all of Lord Laming’s recommendations when they were published as a guide to how the government would respond to the taskforce’s findings.

“If you look at that commitment there will be a read across to how we will respond to what comes out of the taskforce, although I don’t want to pre-empt what the tasforce is going to say,” she added.

Morgan also said she supported the establishment of a national college of social work and felt it would be “an important step forward” in helping the profession to speak for itself and demonstrate improvements and quality of practice.

She was also asked about the government’s commitment to an equitable division of resources for social care.

She said she understood people were worried about the coming tight economic climate for local authorities but she felt innovation was the key.

“We need to make sure we are providing the right support and interventions at the right times because picking up the pieces ends up being much more costly in the long run. We have pilots taking that forward to look at which interventions will actually end up in cost savings. Our job is to support you through this time and that’s why we’re involved in innovation as well,” she said.

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