Chief social worker to step down after decade in post

by "social workers" - Google News

Lyn Romeo will step down as England’s chief social worker for adults in January after just over a decade in the post.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said Romeo was taking retirement.

“Lyn Romeo CBE will step down as chief social worker for adults at the end of January as she is retiring,” said a DHSC spokesperson. “We are hugely grateful for Lyn’s leadership over the last 10 years, which has ensured that social work in adult social care is well placed to support people to have better lives

“We will update on her successor in due course.”

Romeo qualified as a social worker in 1977 in her native Australia and, after moving to the UK, worked in a series of social work and management roles in local government, along with a stint at the former Social Services Inspectorate.

First chief social worker

In 2013, when assistant director of adult social care at the London Borough of Camden, she was appointed as England’s first chief social worker for adults, within the DHSC.

The role was originally designed to be a two-year secondment but Romeo has been in post ever since, save for a period of just over 18 months from autumn 2019, when she took leave to care for her mother in Australia.

Throughout that period, she has worked in tandem with chief social worker for children and families Isabelle Trowler, who is based within the Department for Education.

Their role has been to advise ministers on social work, represent the profession nationally, provide leadership for principal social workers (PSW) and act as a conduit between practitioners and government.

But while Trowler has helped the DfE develop significant reforms to children’s social work over the past decade, Romeo’s role has been more focused on raising adult social work’s profile, developing practice guidance and helping practitioners respond to wider government policy.

Achievements

Key achievements during her tenure include:

Her absence, from autumn 2019 to spring 2021, included the first year of the pandemic. This meant her temporary replacements, Mark Harvey and Fran Leddra, oversaw the profession’s response to Covid-19, including through producing guidance on how ethical practice could be maintained during the pandemic.

Social care reform reversal

Within months of her return, then prime minister Boris Johnson announced the government would implement a version of the cap on care costs – and associated adult social care charging reforms – that had been ditched by his predecessor, Theresa May.

The policy was due to come into force in October 2023 and would have necessitated a significant expansion in the social work workforce in local authorities, to deal with a significant rise in the number of assessments, care and support plans and reviews councils needed to carry out.

Under Romeo’s influence, the subsequent adult social care white paper, Putting people at the heart of care, published in December 2021, included a commitment to providing new routes into adult social work, in order to help increase workforce capacity.

However, a year later, chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a two-year delay to the charging reforms and the DHSC subsequently ditched the pledge to introduce new training routes.

Popular with leaders

Throughout her time in post, Romeo has been popular with social work leaders, who have praised her championing of the profession and of strengths-based practice, and her collegiate approach. This was reflected in a number of warm tributes on X (formerly Twitter) after news broke of her retirement.

Category: Community Care- Adults