The figures, published today (Thursday), show that the number of vacancies in 2022 was 7,900, up more than a fifth (21 per cent) on the previous year’s figures and the highest rate since 2017, when the Department for Education started to collect data in this way.
This is leaving children’s services relying on agency support, with 6,800 full time equivalent temporary workers used last year, up 13 per cent on 2021's figures and another record high. Four out of five agency workers were covering vacancies in 2022, compared to three quarters the previous year.
The figures also reveal that children’s social work is blighted by an exodus of staff, who are increasingly having to take days off through sickness.
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