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Social care reforms risk increasing the burden on overworked council employees, which could drive more valuable staff away, new research claims. The study – carried out on behalf of the Local Government Association – says the reforms intended to improve the protection of children risk trebling part of the sector's workload. Birmingham City Council is awaiting the outcome of a serious case review following the killing of seven-year-old, Khyra Ishaq, who was starved to death by her mother and stepfather. Hilary Thompson, chair of the Birmingham safeguarding children board, said the key authorities involved in the education and protection of children were being ‘hampered' by current legislation. ‘It is of serious concern that the police investigation identified at least 30 individuals… who could have intervened and made a difference,' she added. A recommendation drawn up in the wake of the Baby Peter case says any referral from another professional should result in social services carrying out an initial assessment. But the Loughborough University research suggests this could lead to a 300% increase in the number of such assessments needing to be carried out. Children's social workers are the hardest staff to recruit and retain. The LGA has warned fast-tracking new recruits into the profession is not an option, as they need to be properly prepared for the demands of the job. The cost of financing such an approach has implications for other parts of children's services because it could take funding away from preventative work. Cllr Shireen Ritchie, chair of the LGA's children and young people board, said money should not be a factor but it would be irresponsible to ignore the implications. ‘ The danger is that increasing workloads drive more hard-working social workers to the limit of their endurance. No-one wants efforts to improve child protection to overburden teams and lead to more staff leaving,' she said. For more information, see the LGA website.

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WHITEHALL

'Overworked' staff fears

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