My sister-in-law Marion Davis, who has died aged 67 from complications associated with Parkinson’s disease, was a social worker and a passionate advocate for children’s services. She argued that “the voice and the needs of the child … must always be heard”.
Her concern for children’s wellbeing was pivotal when she was appointed vice-president and then president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services from 2009 to 2011, and as a member of the expert reference group who worked on the Munro review of child protection in 2011.
Her clear-eyed analysis made her an effective chair of a serious case review into the death of a six-year-old girl in the London borough of Sutton in 2013, and adviser to a House of Commons education select committee that reported on the mental health and wellbeing of “looked-after” children in 2015.
She later became a trustee of the charity Children and Families Across Borders. She was appointed CBE in 2012.
Born in Croydon, south London, Marion was the daughter of Peter Davis, a quantity surveyor, and Joan (nee Lambert), a PA. After winning a scholarship to Croydon high school, she confounded the expectations of her parents by leaving and securing a post in the voluntary sector in Camden, north London. There, she met her partner, Ian Burdett, and was determined to become a social worker.
After she had taken a degree in psychology and sociology at City, University of London in 1978, and then a certificate of qualification in social work at the London School of Economics, Marion’s first post was in Purbeck, Dorset, working as a general social worker from 1982 and later in adoption and fostering until 1993.
From Dorset, she went to South Hams, Devon, in 1993, then became head of services for children and families in Plymouth in 1997, before a move to Warwickshire in 2003 as director of social services and later director of children’s services. Marion ensured that the department gained a reputation for excellence.
Marion and Ian entered a civil partnership in 2020, having been together for 40 years. In retirement she had hoped to use her skills to work with a children’s charity in India. However, with diminishing energy following the onset of Parkinson’s, Marion gave up her charity trusteeships and returned to Dorset.
She is survived by Ian and her brother, Martin.