Cumbria council taking on social workers to address failings

More social workers are being recruited to help deal with serious failings in the team helping Cumbria’s most vulnerable children.
The county council’s children’s services department has been ranked as “inadequate” for the past two years in damning reports by Ofsted. Now, as part of efforts to address problems highlighted, 10 more social workers are being taken on.

Julia Morrison, corporate director of children’s services, told the council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Advisory Board that, as well as the new posts, steps would be taken to give existing staff better training.

She said: “We will turn this ship around with the existing crew on board. We’ve had a very successful recruitment campaign by Twitter and we have got a rolling advert on the council’s website. We are asking for experienced social workers to come to work in Cumbria and we have had a good response to that.”

She added that, because the posts were not being advertised for a specific location, the social workers could be flexible and go where there was most need.

Ms Morrison confirmed they had seven existing vacancies as well as the 10 new posts and interviews would take place next week.

They were also using senior managers from other local authorities to help mentor managers in Cumbria.

“They are outstanding managers,” she said. “It’s an ongoing learning process. We are really excited about it.”

It is understood that a total of 50 staff from the department, from senior managers down to team leaders, are going through the new training programme accredited by the University of Cumbria.

Six Ofsted inspectors visited the county between May 13 and 22, and found the service to be lacking in all aspects. Children were left at risk of abuse after social services failed to act swiftly and protect them.

They said that arrangements to protect children in Cumbria from harm are “inadequate”. Children’s services were also ranked as “inadequate” in 2012.

At the time the county council accepted the findings but insisted it had made immediate changes to rectify serious concerns.