Research findings ‘are being ignored’

A professor of social work has hit out at the government for
praising the idea of evidence-based research then ignoring its
findings.

Jane Tunstill, professor of social work at Royal Holloway,
University of London, accused the government at the Community
Care conference last week of “profound dishonesty over its use
of research”.

Tunstill, who has carried out a national evaluation of the Sure
Start programme, said that ministers were too concerned with
performance indicators and service frameworks, which have
introduced “the tyranny of the target”.

“I would be very interested to know how different the systems are
in a three-star department compared with that in a one-star,” she
said, adding that the way many of the new systems had been brought
in had been “unhelpful”.