ABSTRACT
This chapter maps child welfare provision in England following the 2010 general election. Whereas New Labour considered old protectionist models of child welfare that had been in place since 1945 no longer fit for purpose, the Conservative/ Liberal Democrat coalition of 2010, and the later Conservative administration post 2015, shifted away from the more holistic notion of ‘safeguarding’ and returned once more to the language of child protection. Significant, here, has been the review of frontline social work and child protection services led by Professor Eileen Munro. The final report, A Child Centred System (Munro, 2011a), made a number of recommendations which emerged from a systems theory approach to the analysis of welfare provision. These recommendations, consequently, centred on systemic changes, namely those intended to value professional expertise, clarify accountabilities and improve professional learning, share responsibility for the provision of early help and, finally, develop social work expertise and the organisational context supporting practice. Critique of the findings and recommendations locates the review within the broader contexts of neoliberal, market-driven reforms mirrored in the coalition and later Conservative approach to public service reform as a whole.
