Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of recruiting people with experience of raising children into child protection roles.

The department recognises the importance of recruiting individuals with a range of skills, knowledge and lived experiences into child protection roles. While formal qualifications and specialist training are essential for safeguarding children effectively, we acknowledge that personal experience of raising children can offer valuable insights into the challenges children and families face.

Through initiatives such as the Step Up to Social Work and Approach Social Work programmes, as well as apprenticeships, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, the department aims to attract talented individuals from diverse backgrounds and with a range of life experience into the social work profession.

Local authorities and social work employers have flexibility in their recruitment approaches and may consider a candidate’s personal experience as a complement to their professional expertise.

The statutory guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children 2023’ sets out clear multi-agency child protection practice standards and expectations for all practitioners working to help, protect and promote the welfare of children, whatever their personal and professional backgrounds.