Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) – Children’s Services

Liquid Personnel is looking for a highly experienced and Social Work England registered practitioner to join its client's team as an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO). This role is critical in ensuring that children and young people in care and those subject to child protection plans receive high-quality, outcome-focused support. You will be a champion for the Signs of Safety model and a leader in ensuring the child’s voice is at the heart of every decision.

What will your responsibilities be?

• Chairing Statutory Meetings: Lead multi-agency Looked After Children (LAC) reviews and Child Protection (CP) conferences, ensuring they are held within statutory timescales.
• Signs of Safety Implementation: Embed a practice approach that captures family strengths alongside risk factors to create robust, resilient safety plans.
• Child Advocacy: Use innovative mechanisms to ensure the views of children are heard; this includes meeting children before proceedings to discuss their priorities.
• Quality Assurance & Audit: Monitor the performance of the local authority as corporate parents, auditing cases to identify themes and ensure the safety of practice.
• Conflict Resolution: Chair conflict resolution meetings and utilize the Dispute Resolution Framework to challenge poor practice or "drift" in care planning.
• Decision Making: Take responsibility for final decisions at conferences and reviews, ensuring all plans are child-centered and clearly communicated to parents and professionals.
• Regulation 33 Visits: Undertake statutory visits (Regulation 33) to specific children's homes (Beaulieu) to monitor welfare and standards.

Qualifications and Experience:

To be successful in this role, you must have:

• Social Work England Registration and a recognized professional Social Work qualification.
• Significant Post-Qualified Experience: Proven experience at a senior level, ideally within an IRO or Child Protection chairing capacity.
• Signs of Safety Expertise: A deep understanding of the Signs of Safety framework and how to apply it in a conferencing environment.
• Legal & Statutory Knowledge: Expert knowledge of the legislation governing Looked After Children and Child Protection.
• Leadership Skills: The ability to provide independent professional leadership and challenge managers and partners effectively to improve outcomes.

Working Hours and Flexibility:

• Hours: 37 hours per week (Monday to Friday).
• Work Pattern: A mix of days to be confirmed at interview; the role is based at County Hall in Newport.
• IR35 Status: This post is classified as Inside IR35.

Our Commitment:

• Equality & Dignity: We treat everyone with fairness and dignity, promoting equality as an integral part of the IRO role.
• Safeguarding: The Isle of Wight Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment.
• Collaborative Working: We build and maintain strong links with Team Managers and partner agencies to drive service improvements.

Why Liquid Personnel?

•  Free DBS and compliance service
• Twice weekly payroll and ‘Faster Pay’ service, getting you paid more quickly
• Access to exclusive roles that aren’t available from other agencies
• Free access to Liquid’s exclusive social work training and CPD portal
• Your own dedicated consultant with extensive social work knowledge
• Access to a wide selection of social work positions across the UK
• “Refer a Friend” bonus – get £500 for each social worker you refer who we successfully place*
• “Find your own job” bonus – get £250 for bringing your own position to us *

Liquid Personnel is an equal opportunities employer. Liquid Personnel Ltd is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy. * Terms and conditions apply to our bonus schemes.

Reasonable Adjustments:

If you consider yourself to have a disability or require any reasonable adjustment during the recruitment process or within the workplace, please highlight this at the earliest opportunity by contacting our team. With this information, we will provide appropriate support to you throughout the process and into your work placement.

We are unable to support or accept applications from candidates who are residents within the Red or Amber list of the Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England, based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Workforce Support and Safeguard List.

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