'Wilful neglect' laws won't help recruit social workers

Of course, there are regional and local hotspots where the problem is most acute. Last year, Lord Warner, the government-appointed troubleshooter charged with turning around Birmingham's children's services, concluded that staffing problems in the department were a major factor in its failure to adequately protect children. However, a new report from the authority suggests the social worker shortage has, if anything, got worse over the past year.

But Birmingham is not alone. Faced with high social worker vacancies and an over-reliance on expensive agency staff, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire councils have decided to recruit from Romania and India respectively. The fact that authorities feel they have exhausted UK recruitment avenues and so need to look overseas to find staff with sufficient qualifications, experience and staying power has worrying portents for all councils.