Written question asked by Tim Loughton (Conservative) on Monday, 20 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 22 October 2008. It was answered by Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Labour) on Thursday, 23 October 2008 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Social Workers: Vacancies

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the vacancy rates for child social workers were in England in each year since 2001, broken down by local authority.

Answer: Children and family social workers are employed directly by local authorities and other employers; information on vacancy rates by local authority is not collected centrally. Ofsted publishes information on overall vacancy rates for Social Services Department posts for children and families by local authority as part of the annual performance assessment. According to this measure, the number of vacant children and family Social Services Department posts fell from 12.1 per cent. in 2004-05 to 11 per cent. in 2006-07. The Local Authority Workforce Intelligence Group published vacancy rate data on children and family social workers between 2002 and 2006, showing a national reduction in vacancy rates from 12.6 per cent. in 2002 to 9.5 per cent. in 2006.

Secondary information