Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) - Children in Care

• Role: Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)

• Department: Children's Services / Safeguarding & Quality Assurance

• Location: Leeds City Council

• Pay Rate: £35.00 per hour

• Contract: Full-Time, Ongoing Interim Contract

Are you an experienced, highly skilled Senior Social Worker dedicated to quality assuring care plans and championing the voices of looked-after children?

An excellent opportunity has arisen for an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) to join Leeds City Council. In this vital role, you will make an essential contribution to improving outcomes for looked-after children and young people by ensuring high practice standards, preventing drift, and holding care planning processes to account.

• Competitive Rate: Secure a reliable pay rate of £35.00 per hour.

• Child-Centred Practice: Focus on quality assuring statutory care plans and ensuring each young person's wishes and feelings remain central to decision-making.

• Key Strategic Impact: Oversee progress between formal reviews to ensure recommendations are delivered without unnecessary delay or drift.

• Chair Statutory Reviews: Chair Child Looked After (CLA) review meetings at statutory intervals (at least every six months), ensuring active child participation.

• Quality Assurance: Continuously monitor and quality assure the care planning process for each young person on your caseload.

• Monitor Care Plan Progress: Track progress between review meetings to prevent drift and delay in achieving permanence for looked-after children.

• Drive Implementation: Ensure key recommendations from previous reviews are being progressed by multi-agency partners in a timely, effective fashion.

• Professional Status: Qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England.

• Post-Qualifying Experience: A minimum of 5 years' post-qualifying experience in statutory Children's Services, with proven knowledge of care planning regulations and the IRO Handbook.

• Expertise & Skillset: Demonstrable skills in chairing complex statutory meetings, providing constructive practice challenge, and advocating for vulnerable children.

If you have the senior social work experience and passion required to drive high practice standards across Leeds, apply today to submit your profile.

Randstad Care acts as an employment business when supplying temporary staff and as an employment agency when introducing candidates for permanent employment with a client. Randstad Care is an equal opportunities employer and decisions are made on merits alone.

Did you know that Randstad Care have been awarded a place on the National Clinical Staffing Framework for the NHS? This means we will be able to bring you more opportunities within nursing & midwifery and clinical staffing.

experience

Children services

skills

be able to manage challenging situations

qualifications

university

education

BA in social work