The Shadow Children's Minister said the bureaucracy facing social workers, was the biggest factor preventing services from intervening on children's behalf more effectively. Tim Loughton appeared on Monday's Newsnight on BBC2, alongside Ray Jones, a Professor of social work at Kingston University.

The discussion led to the report on the publication of a review of Doncaster social services, which criticised the handling of two 10 year old boys who will be sentenced this week for seriously assaulting two boys in Edlington. Mr Loughton said that a future Conservative administration would publish serious case reviews in full, following this incident.

Professor Jones argued that some of the bureaucracy faced by social workers was a distraction and described the majority of bureaucracy as an impediment to frontline workers. Jones argued that he did not agree with the Shadow Children's Minister's proposal, saying a publication of cases in full would expose more people than necessary, with some being more vulnerable to the 'full glare of the media'.

Social workers are criticised when incidents to do with children arise, but it must be noted that social workers are not always to blame. It is known that there is a national shortage of social workers and the question for 2010 will be whether that journey will lead to a better child protection system, particularly when there is an election in the offing. If all the promises on social worker recruitment and training are kept then in future, children will be better protected, and more social workers will be trained and recruited.