By Charlotte Webster-
Hull City Council has put up 24 new social worker posts expected in a bid to fill up vacancies and reduce the workload of social workers over the next few months.
Last year, the council initially had plans to reduce staff numbers in the authority’s children’s services department, but this was replaced by a new drive to expand the workforce in social services
The u-turn followed a review led by newly-arrived director of children’s services, Alison Murphy.
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Speaking at a council finance scrutiny meeting, she said the cuts would have created a “significant risk” for vulnerable children, their families and the service itself.national average.”At the time, our average caseload for a social worker was 28 when the national average was between 16 and 18.”
Instead, the service has undergone a re-structure with the addition of 24 new social worker posts.
Mrs Murphy said in a statement: “We are making good progress filling the posts.
“There is a national shortage of qualified social workers so we are very pleased to be attracting social workers to the city as well as newly-qualified social workers who already live here.”
There is a £4.2m overspend in the council’s children’s service budget for 2017/18, expected to aid the boost in extra social workers
