Rules to improve child protection introduced after the Baby P tragedy may in fact leave vulnerable youngsters at greater risk, council leaders warned today.
A landmark report by Lord Laming in March 2009 made 58 recommendations for reforms to make children in England safer.
But research commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) suggests some of these regulations are creating excess paperw
ork and tying up social workers needlessly.
The Loughborough University study looked in particular at the effect of Lord Laming's recommendation that every child protection referral to councils from other professionals should lead to a formal "initial assessment".
The researchers found that about 1,920 extra social workers would have to be employed at a cost of £75 million a year to implement this measure in full.
But frontline social workers told them fulfilling the recommendation would lead to unnecessary initial assessments being carried out - and might have an adverse effect on their quality.
The study noted that council children's services departments have seen their workloads increase significantly since full details about the death of 17-month-old Baby P - who can now be named as Peter Connelly - came to light in late 2008.
On average, child protection workers are dealing with 14 different cases at any one time.
The LGA is calling for Lord Laming's recommendation about compulsory initial assessments to be scrapped, allowing social workers to use their own discretion about when one is needed.
It also wants to increase the part played by other child protection agencies, including the police and health services, in making decisions about youngsters' needs.
Shireen Ritchie, chair of the LGA's children and young people board, said: "The aim of this research is to help turn well-meaning proposals into practices which strengthen the safety net which keeps children safe from harm.
"There has to be recognition of what dedicated social workers all over the country are dealing with every day, the pressures placed on them and the valuable expertise they can share.
"Children who are at risk, and families which are struggling, will benefit more from additional time with experienced social workers than they will from an increase in the number of forms filled in about them.
"Some paperwork is essential to doing the best possible job, but it is right to try to reduce bureaucracy where it can ease the pressure on social workers and increase the quality of care offered to children."
Peter Connelly suffered more than 50 injuries despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over the eight months before his death in Tottenham, north London, in August 2007.
