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Local authorities must act as a “pushy parent” for looked-after children, with social workers required to attend school parent evenings, the Conservatives’ children and health spokesperson told a conference today.

Tim Loughton said each school should have a designated governor responsible for overseeing the development of looked after children and authorities should have a “maximum move strategy” in which they would have to justify excessive changes in placements.

But he told the Baaf Adoption and Fostering and Adolescent and Children’s Trust conference plans to improve support services for vulnerable children would “amount to little” unless there was a “well resourced, well trained and well motivated workforce of children’s social workers”.

He said investment in the recruitment and training of social workers must be put on the same footing as similar campaigns for doctors and nurses.