§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what reports he has sponsored concerning monitoring the work of social workers; if he will give details of these; when he expects the results to be published; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe Department encouraged the National Institute for Social Work to set up a working party under the chairmanship of Mr. Peter Barclay to review the role and tasks of social workers. The institute is arranging publication of its report, and I understand that at an institute press conference on 22 April it was mentioned that, among its many proposals and recommendations, there are references to monitoring. We shall be studying the report carefully.