A review is being carried out into England’s social services work.

The government has commissioned an independent report to help improve frontline child protection in England, while Children and Families Minister Tim Loughton has informed those in children’s services that the overview report and the executive summary of all new serious case reviews (SCRs) should be published.

By publishing the SCRs – which will be anonymised and all identifying details removed – the government hopes to increase transparency and openness within the system. SCRs will only not be published when there are compelling reasons relating to the welfare of children not to do so.

The first SCR overview reports to be published will be those on the Peter Connelly – Baby P – case, in which the 17-month old boy was subjected to numerous injuries inflicted by those who were supposed to care for him.

Tim Loughton, Children and Families Minister, said: “A culture has taken hold in child protection which places too much emphasis on bureaucratic box ticking above close personal attention to the circumstances of individual children.

“This was evident in the case of Peter Connelly, and the serious case review into his death, amongst others, tells us precisely what went wrong. This is why we have committed to publishing serious case reviews. In order for lessons to be learned, professionals need access to information which helps them fully understand in each case what went wrong.”

The independent review will look at ways to increase face-to-face contact with vulnerable children and to reduce the amount of bureaucracy involved with cases, and will focus on three main areas: early intervention; increasing time spent on the ‘frontline’; and encouraging greater transparency and accountability.

Professor Eileen Munro has been tasked with conducting the independent review. She said: “Social workers have one of the most difficult jobs in the world and we really need to look at how we can ensure children are at the heart of what they do.

“Less time in front of computers and filling in forms and more time working with vulnerable children, young people and their families, many of whom so desperately need the support of a good social worker.”

Other measures to improve the area of social work include the confirmation by the Department for Education (DfE) that the £23 million Local Social Work Improvement Fund will be available to local authority children’s services in 2010-11. In addition, the DfE has also confirmed funding to support the creation of an independent College of Social Work.

Professor Munro will produce three reports – an evidence report in September, an interim report in January 2011, and the final report in April 2011.