The data contains the transcripts of interviews with social workers, IROs, parents, and young people; transcripts of focus groups (four with professionals, two with young people); an spss data set of information from a detailed case file survey of 122 children in care; and questionnaires from three groups of professionals - social workers, team managers and children's guardians. Local authorities are ‘corporate parents’ for the children they are looking after, and effective care planning is essential for ensuring their well-being and the best possible outcomes. Since 2004 there has been a system of ‘independent reviewing officers’ (IROs) to monitor the way that local authorities implement the plans, and to ensure that the child’s wishes and feelings are fully considered. In April 2011, new government regulations and guidance came into force, which (amongst other things) strengthened the IRO’s role.This study aimed to: investigate how the new care planning regulations and guidance are being implemented; investigate the effectiveness of IROs for monitoring plans, promoting children's well-being, and managing their participation; examine overlaps and differences in the roles and responsibilities of the various individuals involved, and how disagreements are managed; ascertain the views of children and parents about the care planning and review process, particularly the role of the IRO. The research focused on four local authorities in England. It involved a study of case files of 122 children, plus in-depth interviews with a social workers (54), IROs (54), parents (15) and young people (15). There were four multi-professional focus groups (one in each area), and two focus groups with young people. There was also a nationally-distributed questionnaire of IROs (65), social work team managers (46) and children's guardians (39).

The study employed a mixed methods approach. Data was collected from the case files of 122 children in care, using a detailed schedule. This data was analysed using SPSS. The cases were drawn from four local authorities, 30 in each (32 in the largest). On half the cases, there were in-depth interviews following a semi-structured interview guide. The principal interviewees were social workers (54) and IROs (54). Parents and young people were interviewed on a sub-sample of the cases (15 parents and 15 young people). There were also focus groups, with professionals (4) and young people (2). Interviews and focus groups were transcribed and analysed using NVivo. There were nationally distributed questionnaires for social team managers (46), IROs (65) and children's guardians (39). Quantitative data from questionnaires were analysed in SPSS, and the qualitative material with NVivo.