The chairman of the Association of Social Work Employment Businesses (ASWEB) has welcomed the government’s plans to set up a taskforce to improve the quality and status of social workers in the wake of the Baby P scandal in the London Borough of Haringey.

The taskforce is expected to report to ministers next summer on training, recruitment and leadership within the social work profession.

Andrew Thorne, chairman of ASWEB, and also a director of niche criminal justice recruiter Backstop, told Recruiter that he welcomes “any proposals to raise standards”.  

Thorne argues that allowing hiring managers in local authorities to speak direct to recruitment agencies was essential to reduce the chances of getting “the wrong type of social workers”, with all the potential consequences  highlighted by the Baby P case.