LGA - Thousands More Children's Social Workers Needed Over Next 10 Years - New LGA Research

29th November 2024

The number of children's social workers employed by councils will need to increase by 13,000 - nearly a third - over the next decade. As a result of growing need for the care and support of children and young people and to reduce increasing reliance on agency staff, new research by the Local Government Association forecasts today.

On the opening day of the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Liverpool, the LGA says without greater investment in early help for children, thousands more children and family social workers will need hiring. It estimates 3,500 people will need to start their training to become a children and family social worker every year for the foreseeable future.

There were 32,952 children and family social workers in post in 2023. It is predicted this number will need to rise to 45,989 by 2034.

The LGA, which represents councils, is calling for the Government to work with councils on a two-pronged strategy to make sure that every child who needs one has access to a social worker. This includes investing in preventative and early help services so that fewer children need help from social care, and developing a workforce strategy that ensures children have the workforce they need going forward.

Despite additional funding in the Autumn Budget, councils face significant budget shortfalls that put existing non-statutory early help services at risk and limit investment in new ones. It is critical that the Government uses the Spending Review to provide councils with a significant and sustained increase in overall funding that reflects current and future demands for services.

There will always be children and families who can benefit from working with highly trained children’s social workers, so a workforce strategy needs to consider how we both recruit and retain the right staff. This should include a national recruitment drive to encourage more people to become a social worker, with the introduction of government-funded training programmes, Level 7 apprenticeships and bursaries to encourage retraining from other professions.

There are also large numbers of social workers who are registered but not currently working in local authorities. The LGA has previously run the successful Return to Social Work programme to bring social workers back to the profession, which it would like to see funded for further rounds. This costs around £500,000 to bring back 200 social workers, at around £2,500 per person, which is far cheaper than training new social workers and ensures the benefit of experience.

The rising need amongst children for care and support is a key factor behind the need for a significant increase in social workers

Latest Department for Education figures show there are 83,630 looked after children. There were also 621,900 referrals to social workers in the year up to 31 March this year

Cllr Arooj Shah, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said

"It is vital we invest in early help and support so that fewer children and families see their needs escalating and requiring support from children’s social care.

"Without this investment, there will need to be thousands of additional children and family social workers hired over the next decade.

“To make sure we have the number of social workers needed to support children effectively, we are calling on the Government to work with us on a workforce strategy that focuses on both recruitment and retention, including a national recruitment drive, training programmes and bursaries.

“We need to make people aware that a career as a children’s social worker can be a very positive, enriching and rewarding role that makes a profound difference to children’s lives. Sadly it is often a role that only gets attention when things go wrong."