Child protection reforms will be thrown off track by plans to merge Edinburgh’s children’s social services and education services, public sector union Unison has warned, writes Maggie Wood.

Despite protests from Edinburgh social workers, the council’s cabinet committee agreed plans to replace the council’s existing education and social work departments with a new children and families department and new health and social care department led by two separate directors.

But Unison branch secretary John Stevenson said the move would mean “a good deal of child protection work” started before and after the O’ Brien Inquiry into the death of Caleb Ness would have to be started all over again, resulting in “new procedures, new working links, new unfamiliar systems”.

“When we are meant to have our eye on the ball in terms of child protection, we are going to spend time dividing up offices, dividing up computer systems, losing the ability to share information,” Stevenson warned.

He said the real issue in child protection work was lack of resources and problems around staff recruitment. “Reorganisation won’t fix that. In effect, all the diverted effort will make it worse,” he said.