Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the link between a family and their social worker in the event of a failed submission for a Care Protection Order.

No assessment of the effectiveness of the link between a family and their social worker in the event of a failed application for a Care Order has been made by my Department. It would be for the local authority to determine what action to take following a failed application for a Care Order, including whether or not a change of social worker is necessary and whether the child remained at risk of harm and/or the family needed support.

In these circumstances, a further assessment of need should be undertaken by a social worker to decide whether the child and/or their family should receive services as a child in need, or if a child protection plan is needed.