‘Outstanding’ council launches social worker recruitment campaign
Fiona Simpson
Friday, August 25, 2023
A local authority has launched a recruitment campaign to attract social workers after being awarded its second consecutive “outstanding” rating by Ofsted.
Inspectors praised “high-quality services” for children and families delivered by North Yorkshire council following an inspection in July.
Their report states: “All services share high aspiration and ambition for children, which enhances their lives and opportunities.
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“Leaders have built on their well-established culture and service initiatives to further develop and improve services for children since the outstanding judgement at the last inspection in 2018.”
Following the judgment, council leaders launched a campaign “to attract experienced children’s social workers to North Yorkshire and build on the ‘outstanding’ work that has been undertaken to support young people across the county”.
The council is seeking to appoint 14 social workers across all locations in North Yorkshire, with a particular focus on strengthening its teams based across Yorkshire coast locations, where its largest teams are based, according to the campaign.
Jo Miles, a principal child and family social worker, whose career spans almost 30 years in North Yorkshire, said: “At the heart of what we do, we have relationships that matter, and we feel valued for the work we do.
“We work with children, young people, their families, network and the local community, and always focus on making the child’s voice really count. As a professional team we are hugely respectful, kind and value each other and those we serve.
“We know that we all matter and the children, families and communities we serve matter, too.”
The council’s director of children and young people’s services, Stuart Carlton said in a message to social workers: “You are the greatest resource we have, and we want you to have the time and ability to create lasting change for children. Join us and be the change you trained to be.”
The campaign comes amid a national shortage of social workers employed by local authorities.
According to Social Work England and the annual figures from the Department for Education, nationally there were around 7,900 vacancies in children and families social work in September 2022.
