Check out the March edition of Professional Social Work Magazine where WillisPalmer Managing Director Mark Willis speaks about his experiences as a social worker in this months Q&A section on page 21.
LSC continue to exclude ISWs from Expert Witness Review
March 8, 2011 by markwillisAs most of you will know, the Legal Services Commission made the decision last year to exclude expert independent social workers from it’s review of expert witnesses. It continues to do so, stubbornly asserting that ISWs don’t fall within the remit and insisting they should be paid at CAFCASS rates from May 2nd this year.
The news that ISWs should not be seen as experts will come as a surprise to the many solicitors, local authority social workers and managers who commission expert services from ISWs and also to the Judges who often rely on the evidence provided by them. Moreover, ISWs are expected to adhere to the Presidents Practice Direction on the role of the Expert as set out in the letter of instruction. However, the LSC saw fit to include among others, Psychiatrists, GP’s, Occupational Therapists, Nurses, Vets, Photographers and Translators in the review, but not Independent Social Workers.
As well as being an utterly illogical decision it is a slight upon the social work profession as a whole and demeaning of those experienced practitioners that work within the family courts.
Recently WillisPalmer undertook a review of it’s expert independent social workers and discovered that those that undertook court work for us last year had an average of 25 years experience as social workers. This begs the question, what do they have to do to convince the LSC that they are experts in their field?
At a time when policy makers are asserting that social workers are a valued profession and should be supported in their role of protecting society’s most vulnerable people, it seems stranger than ever to see a major government department such as the MoJ working so hard to downgrade the importance of this group of professionals. A voice at the expert witness review is all that is being asked. Is it too much?
Mark Willis
Categories: Special Assessments
