Councils struggle to employ and keep children's social workers

A survey of local authorities carried out by the Local Government Association (LGA), Improvement and Development Agency and Local Government Employers, found that two thirds of councils said they had problems recruiting children's social workers, more than double the figure for adult social workers.

Forty per cent had difficulty retaining children's social workers as opposed to 25 per cent for adult social workers. However recruitment and retention problems have improved since 2006, the survey found.

Margaret Eaton, chair of the LGA, said: So soon after the death of Baby P, these findings show that there are real difficulties for councils in recruiting and retaining high calibre child social worker staff.

These sad events shine a light on the onerous responsibility councils bear in working with the most vulnerable children and families and the equally onerous responsibility we ask individual members of staff, children’s social workers especially, to carry on our behalf.

The LGA's findings were part of a larger workforce survey, which will be released next week.