DfE warns that social worker shortage over next decade could become critical

The Department for Education has warned that the shortage in children’s social workers in English local authorities is likely to increase over the coming decade.

In its recently published annual report it raised the level of risk to its objectives posed by there being insufficient social workers from “moderate” to “critical" saying that the workforce would lack “capacity and stability to meet demand”.

The assessment is based on the DfE’s latest figures for the workforce, which revealed that, as of September 2023, 18.9% of full-time equivalent children’s social work posts in English councils lay vacant.

The report sets out various steps the government is taking to address the shortages of children’s social workers, including:

• Training an average of 800 social workers a year through its fast-track programmes, Step Up to Social Work and the Frontline-run Approach Social Work.
• Providing funding last year for councils to support 461 social work apprentices.
• Developing rules to restrict councils’ use of agency social workers in children’s services, which are due to come into force later this year.
• Providing professional development to more than 3,000 children’s social workers each year.