Immediate Past President

Dr. David N Jones is President of the International Federation of Social Workers and involved in national and international social work professional networks. In a social work career spanning almost 40 years he has been involved in social work practice and management, regulation of qualifications, professional advocacy, inspection of the quality of social work services and policy advice and development (national and international).

Professional qualifications, social work practice and management

David qualified as a social worker in 1974 and started his career in local authority generic social work, soon specialising in child protection. He worked for 8 years in an Special Unit run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Nottingham (England) jointly financed by the county council, health authority and police. After a year in a national policy role in the NSPCC, he was appointed General Secretary and Chief Executive of the British Association of Social Workers in 1985, serving for most of that period as a Member of the UK Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW).

David moved in 1994 to be CCETSW Director of Operations and lead officer for England. He was closely involved in setting up the Training Organisation for the Personal Social Services (TOPSS) and in preparing the handover of CCETSW functions to the General Social Care Council (GSCC). David was seconded in 1999 to the Audit Commission/Social Services Inspectorate Joint Review Team to undertake a study of human resource management in social services in England and Wales, published by AC/SSI as 'People Need People'. He then joined the team as a Joint Reviewer of local authority social services for 3 years, reviewing around 25 local councils.

Government Adviser and Her Majesty’s Inspector

David was seconded in 2004 to the Children and Young People's Unit for England to work on performance management in children's services and he continued as an Adviser on the new policy for children and young people ‘Every Child Matters’ in the Department for Education and Skills. In 2006 he moved to the Department of Health for 4 months to support the Director of Social Care. He returned to inspection in August 2006, working with the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) on Joint Area Reviews of children’s services and transferring to the Office for Standards in Education, Children and Skills (new Ofsted) in 2007.

David N Jones was appointed Deputy Director (Children) in the new Ofsted, taking up this temporary post on 1 February 2009. He has responsibilities for the inspection and regulation of social care for children and families in England.


Academic study and publications

David was awarded his doctorate in social work at Warwick University for a research study on the experience of Joint Reviews. He holds a Masters in Applied Social Studies (social work)(Nottingham) and a BA in politics, philosophy and economics (Oxford). He has published numerous articles and books on child abuse, social work and management.

International Federation of Social Workers roles

David has held several posts in IFSW, attending his first IFSW Europe Delegate Meeting in Basel, Switzerland in 1989 and his first world General Meeting in 1994 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He has attended most world General Meetings and many European conferences and meetings since then. He served on the IFSW Europe project group on social inclusion (1996-98) and was involved in the IFSW European Network on Mutual Recognition of Qualifications. He was elected to the IFSW Europe Executive in 1998 and was elected to the IFSW World Executive in 2000, serving as Chair of the Policy Committee and IFSW co-convenor of the task group on global standards for social work qualifications, working jointly with Association of Schools of Social Work. He was elected IFSW European President and Senior Vice President (world) in 2002 and IFSW President at the Munich conference in 2006.

Other international roles

David was a founder member and the first Honorary Secretary General of the Commonwealth Organisation for Social Work (COSW), founded in 1994. He has served on the COSW Executive since that time. COSW works very closely with IFSW.

David represented the UK government on the Council of Europe Social Cohesion Committee, Specialist Group on Social Workers (1998-2001) and has served as an Executive Member of the Friends of the Commonwealth Foundation since 1998.

The future

David is planning to develop his own consultancy in social work and management in 2010 and is looking forward to having a more measured professional life now that he has completed his doctorate and stands down from his Ofsted senior managerial role in August 2009 and from the IFSW Presidency in 2010. He hopes to make an active national and international contribution to social work in the years ahead.

1 August 2009


Dr David N Jones' Curriculum Vitae at Slater Baker (UK based Company to provide Professional Speakers on Education and Children's Services)