Children & Families - Independent Reviewing Officer / IRO - Capped
| Posting date: | 14 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £35.62 per hour |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 14 May 2026 |
| Location: | Newport, Isle Of Wight |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Wax Recruitment Ltd |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: |
Summary
Job title: Children & Families - Independent Reviewing Officer / IRO - Capped
Job Category : Social Care Qualified
Location : County Hall, High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD,
Isle of Wight Council
Hours Per Week :37.00
Pay: £35.62 per hour
A mix of days, will be confirmed at interview.
Job Purpose
1. To help implement and embed revised approach to Child Protection Conferencing
based on the Signs of Safety model, which ensures that the outline plans captures and
harnesses the family strengths alongside key risk factors.
2. To explore and practice innovative mechanisms to ensure the views of children and
young people are heard in CP and LAC reviews.
3. To chair multi agency looked after children reviews, child protection conferences, as
required. To provide specialist consultation and quality assurance.
4. To be responsible for decision making at conferences and reviews ensuring there is a
framework for reviewing compliance with plans made.
5. To ensure that all plans are child centred, outcome focused. Ensure that plans capture
the strength and resilience factors of the child and family, alongside risk and challenge.
6. To build and maintain relationships with key partners to improve outcomes for children
7. To ensure that all reviews of looked after children and child protection conferences are
held within statutory timescales and to an appropriate standard.
8. To monitor performance to ensure that the views of the child are understood and taken
into account and to monitor the performance and activity of the local authority of their
functions with relation to LA and as corporate parents.
Major Tasks
1. Promote equality as an integral part of a role and treat everyone with fairness and
dignity.
2. To develop and maintain a generic skill set that allows the Isle of Wight Council to
employ your skills, abilities and experience across the Council and its formal
partnerships as needed
3. To chair reviews and conferences effectively, ensuring that all participants from
all agencies involved in cases, have an opportunity to raise concerns.
4. To ensure that conflict resolution, safeguarding alerts and practice alerts are raised
where appropriate to the case.
5. To enable the child to have a voice in proceedings, meeting beforehand to discuss
with them the issues they want to or want to have raised.
6. Undertake Regulation 33 Visits to Beaulieu
7. To ensure that parents have an opportunity to make their views known during the
course of the meeting and are clear about any recommendations and plans are made
involving them and their family.
8. To bring those meetings to a close summarising the position reached and making any
decision clearly, and requesting all actions from professionals as appropriate.
9. To make decisions to defer the meeting when there is insufficient information on which
to make a decision.
10. To ensure that dates for subsequent meetings fit within the statutory timescales for
conferences and reviews.
11. To provide information to help form a view about practice across the authority so that
improvements can be made.
12. To be part of the duty system so that all issues are dealt with in a timely way and
conferences can be organised within speedy timescales.
13. To chair conflict resolution meetings involving families and professionals where
required.
14. To chair other meetings as and when required, if required in defined circumstances
Leadership of Practice Issues
1. To create and maintain links with team managers in order to Improve standards for
children in care, and children in need of protection.
2. To provide independent professional leadership around practice matters and advice for
staff within children’s services
3. To maintain a knowledge of relevant legislation and research, to ensure that services
respond proactively to required changes
Quality Assurance
1. To be available for consultation and advice on case matters when required, taking a
lead role, where appropriate
2. To undertake Management Reviews of individual cases as and when required provided
they have not been involved with the relevant case or line management thereof
3. To audit cases on themes identified locally to ensure safety of practice.
4. To provide feedback to social workers and their managers to enable improvements in
the review and conferencing process.
5. Ensure that all meetings are conducted in line with relevant procedures, timescales and
to required standards
6. Ensure that poor practice and drift is dealt with promptly, in an appropriate manner and
in line with relevant guidance and regulations & the Dispute Resolution Framework.
7 Promote equality as an integral part of a role and treat everyone with fairness and
dignity.
8 To develop and maintain a generic skill set that allows the Isle of Wight Council to
employ your skills, abilities and experience across the Council and its formal partnerships
as needed
Job Category : Social Care Qualified
Location : County Hall, High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 1UD,
Isle of Wight Council
Hours Per Week :37.00
Pay: £35.62 per hour
A mix of days, will be confirmed at interview.
Job Purpose
1. To help implement and embed revised approach to Child Protection Conferencing
based on the Signs of Safety model, which ensures that the outline plans captures and
harnesses the family strengths alongside key risk factors.
2. To explore and practice innovative mechanisms to ensure the views of children and
young people are heard in CP and LAC reviews.
3. To chair multi agency looked after children reviews, child protection conferences, as
required. To provide specialist consultation and quality assurance.
4. To be responsible for decision making at conferences and reviews ensuring there is a
framework for reviewing compliance with plans made.
5. To ensure that all plans are child centred, outcome focused. Ensure that plans capture
the strength and resilience factors of the child and family, alongside risk and challenge.
6. To build and maintain relationships with key partners to improve outcomes for children
7. To ensure that all reviews of looked after children and child protection conferences are
held within statutory timescales and to an appropriate standard.
8. To monitor performance to ensure that the views of the child are understood and taken
into account and to monitor the performance and activity of the local authority of their
functions with relation to LA and as corporate parents.
Major Tasks
1. Promote equality as an integral part of a role and treat everyone with fairness and
dignity.
2. To develop and maintain a generic skill set that allows the Isle of Wight Council to
employ your skills, abilities and experience across the Council and its formal
partnerships as needed
3. To chair reviews and conferences effectively, ensuring that all participants from
all agencies involved in cases, have an opportunity to raise concerns.
4. To ensure that conflict resolution, safeguarding alerts and practice alerts are raised
where appropriate to the case.
5. To enable the child to have a voice in proceedings, meeting beforehand to discuss
with them the issues they want to or want to have raised.
6. Undertake Regulation 33 Visits to Beaulieu
7. To ensure that parents have an opportunity to make their views known during the
course of the meeting and are clear about any recommendations and plans are made
involving them and their family.
8. To bring those meetings to a close summarising the position reached and making any
decision clearly, and requesting all actions from professionals as appropriate.
9. To make decisions to defer the meeting when there is insufficient information on which
to make a decision.
10. To ensure that dates for subsequent meetings fit within the statutory timescales for
conferences and reviews.
11. To provide information to help form a view about practice across the authority so that
improvements can be made.
12. To be part of the duty system so that all issues are dealt with in a timely way and
conferences can be organised within speedy timescales.
13. To chair conflict resolution meetings involving families and professionals where
required.
14. To chair other meetings as and when required, if required in defined circumstances
Leadership of Practice Issues
1. To create and maintain links with team managers in order to Improve standards for
children in care, and children in need of protection.
2. To provide independent professional leadership around practice matters and advice for
staff within children’s services
3. To maintain a knowledge of relevant legislation and research, to ensure that services
respond proactively to required changes
Quality Assurance
1. To be available for consultation and advice on case matters when required, taking a
lead role, where appropriate
2. To undertake Management Reviews of individual cases as and when required provided
they have not been involved with the relevant case or line management thereof
3. To audit cases on themes identified locally to ensure safety of practice.
4. To provide feedback to social workers and their managers to enable improvements in
the review and conferencing process.
5. Ensure that all meetings are conducted in line with relevant procedures, timescales and
to required standards
6. Ensure that poor practice and drift is dealt with promptly, in an appropriate manner and
in line with relevant guidance and regulations & the Dispute Resolution Framework.
7 Promote equality as an integral part of a role and treat everyone with fairness and
dignity.
8 To develop and maintain a generic skill set that allows the Isle of Wight Council to
employ your skills, abilities and experience across the Council and its formal partnerships
as needed