Children's Social Care Independent Review

(asked on 25th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Children's Social Care Review, how many applications were made to join the Experts by Experience Group; what criteria were used to assess those applicants; who decided which applications were accepted and rejected; which of those accepted applicants are employed or in receipt of contracts or financial awards from the Department of Education.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 2nd March 2021

The Experts by Experience Group is one of the ways in which the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care will be giving anyone who has had a social worker (either themselves or a child in their care) a voice in the review. The group will be responsible for helping the review to capture the views, experiences and opinions of care experienced children, young people, adults and families. The group will also be responsible for allowing us to test and refine emerging findings with children, young people, adults and families throughout the review and guiding the review on how best to engage and hear the voices of other children, young people and families that have experience of the care system.

Following an open expression of interest process the review has now established an Experts by Experience Board.

The review received 1,011 applications to join the board. The panel, chaired by the Lead Reviewer, Josh McAlistair, assessed every application and have appointed a small number of individuals that met the criteria detailed in the Expression of Interest application:

The criteria was as follows:

1. Have lived experienced of the children’s social care system, whether current or previous, through:

  • interaction with a social worker as a child
  • personal experience in care
  • the family of a child who has interacted with a social worker
  • the family of a child who has been placed in care

2. Are comfortable contributing respectfully alongside people who may have had very different experiences to their own.

3. Have the ability to communicate views about children’s social care clearly and concisely, and also the views of others with experience of children’s social care.

Board members have been asked to declare any conflicts of interest, which will be checked and recorded at the Board’s first meeting. The names of all the Experience by Expert Board members are available on the website:https://childrenssocialcare.independent-review.uk/experts/.

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