Child protection a ‘big focus’ for government over the next five years, Cameron says

Child protection will be a “big focus” of the government’s next five years in charge, David Cameron announced this week.

In a speech on welfare, the prime minister said the government needs to help social workers who do a “very challenging job”.

Cameron spoke about recruiting the best graduate talent through Frontline and training social workers more rigorously. “We will help good social workers to stay at the frontline, using their professional judgement – not be promoted away from where they are most needed,” he said.

Failing authorities

To deal with failing authorities, the government will use the lessons learned in education – where it has intervened quickly and put failing organisations under new leadership – he said.

“We will say to any local authority failing its children: transform the way you provide services, or those services will be taken over by non-profit trusts like those in Doncaster, and partnerships like that between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,” Cameron said.

Troubled families

The PM also announced that the Troubled Families programme, led by Louise Casey, will work with 400,000 more troubled families over the next five years.

He said almost all of the 117,000 families who the programme originally targeted have been ‘turned around’ by the “real government success”.

“I want to extend this thinking to areas where state institutions have all too often failed,” he added.