Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the decision to close the national assessment and accreditation system for children's social workers on the standard of service provided by social workers; and what steps he is taking to strengthen the training and skills of children’s social workers.

​Social workers go above and beyond to protect and support children and young people. The work they have done during the COVID-19 outbreak has been phenomenal, continuing to visit families in person where required throughout this difficult time.

We invest over £50 million each year on recruiting and developing child and family social workers to ensure that the workforce has the capacity, skills and knowledge to support and protect vulnerable children.

This decision to end the current delivery model of the national assessment and accreditation system (NAAS) this financial year has been informed by feedback from social workers and local authorities, as well as learning from other professions that have moved to remote assessment during the COVID-19 outbreak.

We remain committed to assessment and accreditation as a key element of continuing improvements in children’s social care. Ensuring social workers have the skills and knowledge they need is vital to improving outcomes for children and families.

We continue to work in collaboration with the sector on assessment and accreditation building on the significant learning from NAAS.