We need more diversity in children's workforce

The latest set of workforce data published in February by the Department for Education shows that 17 per cent of the 31,720 children and family social workers employed by councils identified as being of black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) heritage, while two-thirds are white (see Analysis). A significant caveat to the data is that 5,392 children's social workers - 17 per cent of the total - refused to submit information, or data wasn't collected.

Race and ethnicity is, of course, a sensitive issue and some practitioners perhaps believe it is irrelevant to how they do their job. Why does it matter? The Association of Directors of Children's Services says it is important that the workforce - both in frontline and senior positions - "reflects the communities with whom it works". The association's recent workforce report says this can help improve relationships between practitioners and children and families, and inspire those from under-represented backgrounds to pursue a career in children's services.

The data shows there are disproportionately more Asian and mixed-race heritage children in care - five per cent and nine per cent respectively - than there are Asian and mixed-race social workers - four and three per cent respectively.

Some areas are alive to the issue. Brighton & Hove City Council plans to change how it recruits social workers by focusing more on areas with greater ethnic diversity. A driver for this is the rising number of BAME children and families it is working with.

A recent study by Oxford University highlighted the disproportionately high levels of poverty among ethnic minority communities. It found that black and mixed-race pupils were on average nearly twice as likely to be eligible for free school meals than their white peers.

Making the social care workforce more diverse will take time, but there are signs of change. The DfE data shows the rate of growth among BAME social workers was faster than for white practitioners over the past year. The number of children's services leaders of BAME heritage remains low, but the Staff College reports high demand for its Black and Asian Leaders Initiative. This will hopefully soon translate into more gaining senior positions so that those at the top better reflect society as a whole.

This in turn might encourage more frontline social workers to submit ethnicity information so that we get a clearer picture of the make-up of the entire workforce.

• Derren Hayes is editor of Children & Young People Now derren.hayes@markallengroup.com