The Team Around the Child (TAC) will discuss and identify the lead professional, with input from the child, young person and their family or carers (C&YPFC). This must be someone trained, experienced, supported and in a position to ensure that the child’s plan is coordinated effectively.
National guidance states that the lead professional is ‘the identified person within the network of practitioners who are working alongside the child or young person and the family. In most cases, the professional who has the greatest responsibility in coordinating and reviewing, the child’s plan will undertake this role’.
For all looked after children and children on the Child Protection Register the allocated social worker would be the lead professional unless there were exceptional circumstances.
For children where the primary consideration is complex health or education needs the lead professional would be a member of staff from these services.
The lead professional role may be the named person or another service representative including those open to the Social Work Service and Family Support Services.
The named person role remains, and they should work in collaboration with the lead professional, child/young person, their family/carers, and other members of the TAC.
The agency carrying out the role of lead professional can change if that is deemed appropriate by the TAC, in consultation with the child/young person and family.
If there are difficulties agreeing who should take on the role of lead professional, the TAC should refer to and use the Lead Professional Dispute Resolution process (appendix 2) to resolve the matter.
It is crucial that children/young people and/or their family/carers are not exposed to professional disagreements about the lead professional role.
