Practitioners’ workloads are rising, evaluation finds

Two of the government’s flagship children’s services reforms are increasing practitioners’ workloads and causing anxiety among workers, a new report claims.

Two-thirds of practitioners said the common assessment framework and the lead professional role were adding to their workload, according to the independent evaluation.

The majority of practitioners were comfortable with the lead professional role but less than half felt well supported. There was anxiety about the high level of responsibility attached to the position, and half said they wanted more guidance and training.

Multiple assessments were being completed in some cases because workers who received CAF as a referral to their service then carried out their own initial assessment.

But more than half of the practitioners and managers felt the two initiatives were promoting better multi-agency working and three-quarters thought they would lead to better outcomes for children.

The report covered common assessment and lead professional activity in pilots in 12 parts of England ahead of the national rollout from April this year.

Evaluating the Common Assessment Framework and Lead Professional Guidance and Implementation in 2006 from www.dfes.gov.uk