Congratulations to Shireen Ritchie

Congratulations to my friend Shireen Ritchie, a Kensington and Chelsea councillor, on her well deserved peerage.

In March I ran a piece about her work in the complicated but vital area of social workers drowning in paperwork. She has come up with some practical ideas on the Common Assessment Framework, the computer systems social workers use, lots of boring admin stuff....which can end up making the difference between whether babies live or die.

The Government's policy paper didn't have much about social workers. (Although it's pledge: "We will publish serious case reviews, with identifying details removed" was welcome.)

However I know that the Education Secretary Michael Gove understands the importance of getting children out of the care system and placed for adoption. He also knows the system could work a lot better than it does at present. I hope Baroness Ritchie may be able to help him from her new vantage point.