I was initially amazed by the slow progress of the Integrated Children’s System (ICS) and the apparently nonchalant stance taken by the Department for Children, School and Families (DCSF), which is responsible for ICS as part of the government’s Every Child Matters policy.

When Computing first approached the department about the delays, it had little to say except that it was confident most councils would meet the latest 31 March deadline for enhancements to the system.

Just eight days later DSCF sent a circular to councils showing that only 55 out of 150 had achieved the target. The DSCF press office’s only response to our questions at this point was to suggest that Computing could use excerpts from the circular to “reflect its position.” I think it has done that quite well itself.

According to a survey that the government commissioned and then partly suppressed, the biggest complaint from social workers is that ICS is difficult to use and too “prescriptive and uniform”. It is also keeping social workers at their desks when they could be out on visits.

So if social care practitioners say ICS is already hindering practice, there is a danger that the more the system is enhanced, the more restrictive and complicated it will become.

“The inflexibility of the forms fails to capture some crucial information,” said Terri Dowty, director of pressure group Action on Rights for Children.

The government-commissioned report said: “Separating information under numerous headings and sections fragmented reports and was thought to inhibit a holistic overview of family life.”

It added: “Social workers in disability teams were unclear where to record specific disability relevant information.”

For a system that aims to promote early intervention to avoid cases such as that of Victoria Climbie, this is not looking good. Perhaps for now the delays are not such bad news after all.

By Janie Davies