Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) don't directly look after children in care; their role is to monitor how the local authority treats these children and make sure every child gets heard in terms of their views and wishes in decisions and plans about their care.
Recent changes in the law mean that every looked after child has to have a named IRO. They keep an eye on how the local authority manages a child's case and make sure that a child's views are taken into account. They should also chair case review meetings which decide a child's future and meet with the child before these meetings to hear their views.
Some councils have used their IROs independently and innovatively. In Milton Keynes, children over 15 are supported by their IROs to run their own case review meetings - putting the young person firmly in control of their own life. Elsewhere, there's a suspicion that not all IROs are as 'independent' of the local authority as they are supposed to be.
Secretaries of State in England and Wales now have powers to create new bodies to carry out the work of IROs. As the Fostering Network comments: 'In essence this can be seen as a shot across the bows of local authorities. If they do not demonstrate that IROs are acting independently and effectively, they may lose this resource.'