The posting
Contract to start ASAP until 31-12-26 with a possible extension.
Independent Reviewing Officer
Hours: Full-time (37 hours per week)
Contract: Temporary, ending 31 December 2026
Provide Independent Oversight and Challenge for Children in Care
We're recruiting an experienced Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) to join North Yorkshire Council, providing independent oversight of care planning and ensuring children and young people receive high-quality, timely, and effective support.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced qualified Social Worker with a strong background in Children's Social Care, looked-after children, safeguarding, care planning, review processes, quality assurance, and multi-agency working.
You'll work closely with children and young people, Social Workers, Team Managers, carers, families, schools, health professionals, and partner agencies to ensure care plans remain appropriate, legally compliant, and focused on achieving positive outcomes.
About the Role
As an Independent Reviewing Officer, you'll chair statutory reviews for children in care and provide robust independent challenge where care planning is delayed, ineffective, or does not sufficiently reflect the child's needs and wishes.
You'll monitor progress between reviews, ensure actions are followed through, and help strengthen the quality and consistency of practice across Children's Services.
What you'll be doing:
- Chairing statutory Looked After Children reviews
- Providing independent scrutiny and challenge of care planning and case progression
- Ensuring the child's wishes and feelings are central to review and decision-making
- Monitoring care plans to ensure they remain appropriate and outcome-focused
- Identifying drift, delay, or gaps in planning and escalating concerns where necessary
- Ensuring actions from reviews are clear, measurable, and completed within agreed timescales
- Working closely with Social Workers and Team Managers to improve the quality of care planning
- Reviewing permanence plans and placement arrangements
- Ensuring children and young people are properly consulted and involved
- Supporting effective multi-agency participation in statutory review processes
- Working with foster carers, residential providers, families, schools, and health professionals
- Reviewing safeguarding and risk issues and ensuring concerns are addressed appropriately
- Providing professional challenge where statutory duties or good practice standards are not being met
- Recording clear review decisions, recommendations, and outcomes
- Monitoring cases between review meetings where concerns or delays arise
- Supporting escalation processes where actions remain outstanding
- Contributing to quality assurance activity across Children's Services
- Identifying themes and practice issues that may require service improvement
- Providing advice and guidance to practitioners and managers
- Supporting learning from audits, complaints, and practice reviews
- Maintaining accurate and timely records
- Ensuring compliance with relevant legislation, regulations, and statutory guidance
- Promoting consistently high standards of practice across looked-after children services
Requirements
We're looking for a highly experienced and professionally confident Social Worker with strong safeguarding knowledge and the ability to provide independent and constructive challenge.
You'll ideally have:
- A recognised Social Work qualification
- Current Social Work England registration
- Significant post-qualifying experience within Children's Social Care
- Strong experience working with looked-after children
- Experience chairing statutory reviews or complex multi-agency meetings
- Strong knowledge of care planning and permanence
- Excellent understanding of safeguarding and child protection
- Good knowledge of the Children Act 1989, Care Planning Regulations, and relevant statutory guidance
- Experience working with children with complex needs and circumstances
- Ability to identify drift, delay, and ineffective planning
- Strong analytical and decision-making skills
- Confidence challenging professional practice constructively
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Experience working closely with Social Workers, managers, carers, and partner agencies
- Strong understanding of multi-agency working
- Experience contributing to quality assurance or service improvement
- Strong report-writing and case-recording skills
- Ability to manage a high-volume and complex workload
- Local authority Children's Services experience is essential
- Enhanced DBS clearance or willingness to undertake required safeguarding checks
- Eligibility to work in the UK
- Ability to provide three years of references/work history
- Ability to complete a Criminal Convictions Declaration
- Ability to sign a Confidentiality Agreement
Why Apply
- Competitive Umbrella rate of £34.64 per hour
- Opportunity to work with North Yorkshire Council
- Senior-level independent reviewing role
- Opportunity to influence the quality of care planning for children and young people
- Work closely with Social Workers, managers, carers, families, and partner agencies
- Gain further quality assurance and reviewing experience
- Full-time 37-hour working week
- Temporary assignment running through to December 2026
Benefits
- Weekly Pay
- Company Pension
- Ongoing Agency Support
Additional Information
Client: North Yorkshire Council
Job Title: Independent Reviewing Officer
Location: Civic House, Harrogate, HG1 2AE
Start Date: 19 October 2026
End Date: 31 December 2026
Hours: 37 hours per week
Pay Rate: Umbrella: £34.64 per hour
Employment Type: Temporary
Number of Positions: 1
Job Types: Full-time, Temporary contract
Pay: £34.64 per hour
Benefits:
- Company pension
Application question(s):
- Are you a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England?
- Do you have significant experience working within Children's Social Care?
- Do you have experience with Looked After Children, care planning, and permanence?
- Have you chaired statutory reviews or complex multi-agency meetings?
- Do you have strong knowledge of safeguarding, statutory guidance, and care planning regulations?
- Are you confident providing independent challenge to Social Workers and managers?
- Please confirm your current location and whether you can reliably travel to Civic House, Harrogate, HG1 2AE as required.
Experience:
- Children's Social Work: 3 years (preferred)
- Looked After Children / Care Planning: 2 years (preferred)
- Independent Reviewing / Quality Assurance: 1 year (preferred)
- Local Authority Children's Services: 2 years (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- Social Work England Registration (required)
- Recognised Social Work Qualification (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
Disclaimer: On applying for this vacancy, you agree that your personal details will be passed onto our client for their consideration of your suitability for the role. I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to notify iWork Recruitment Limited of any hirer who I do not want my details to be passed onto.
RQ1791089-10-26
