Independent Reviewing Officer

Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) hold a statutory role under Section 25A of the Children Act 1989 (as amended by the Children and Young Persons Act 2008). You chair review meetings for looked-after children (children in the care of a local authority) at prescribed intervals — within 20 working days of a child entering care, then at three months and every six months thereafter — to scrutinise the local authority's care planning and ensure that each child's plan promotes their welfare and long-term permanence. You are independent of the case-holding social work team, providing a quality-assurance and advocacy function within the local authority's children's services structure.

In the review meeting, you bring together the child (in an age-appropriate way), their parents (where appropriate), foster carers or residential key workers, the case-holding social worker, the child's Independent Visitor (if applicable), teachers, health workers, and other relevant professionals. You scrutinise the child's care plan, ensure their wishes and feelings have been heard and recorded, challenge the local authority where plans are drifting or not in the child's best interests, and make recommendations that are binding on the local authority. You produce a formal written record of each review and track whether the local authority's actions are completed. Where you have concerns about a child's care plan that are not resolved through internal processes, you have a statutory duty to refer to CAFCASS.

IROs must be qualified social workers registered with Social Work England, and the role requires demonstrated senior post-qualifying experience — typically 3–5 years of children and families social work — given the level of independent professional judgement required.

The IRO role is a statutory requirement of English childcare law — every looked-after child must have an IRO, by law, for as long as they remain in care. With over 83,000 looked-after children in England, and with local authorities under sustained pressure to demonstrate compliance with Ofsted's Inspecting Local Authority Children's Services framework, IRO services are a permanent and legally protected feature of children's services infrastructure. IRO caseloads are set by national guidance (the IRO Handbook, DfE) at 50–70 children per IRO — a manageable number that creates a professional and sustainable working environment compared to frontline social work.

Social Work England registration protects the professional title and ensures the role can only be filled by qualified social workers with a demonstrated practice record. The IRO role offers experienced children's social workers a challenging, autonomous, and constructively critical function with better working conditions (fewer crisis calls, more planned work, office-based) than frontline duty and assessment or child protection teams, making it an attractive progression for experienced practitioners.

Morning: chair two looked-after children reviews — one a 10-year-old in long-term foster care whose placement is disrupting (meet with the child one-to-one, then convene the review to challenge the lack of a permanence plan after three years in care); one a 14-year-old in a residential home who has been excluded from school (ensure the Virtual School Head and education team are present and that an education plan is in place). Complete formal review records and draft action points. Afternoon: monitoring phone calls to check previous review recommendations have been actioned; consultation with a social worker about a child whose LAC review recommendations have not been implemented by the LA within timescale — advise on the IRO escalation process. Read three new case files ahead of tomorrow's reviews.