Front-line social workers hindered by public sector spending cuts.
PRESS RELEASE – 28th July 2011
The government’s cuts to public sector spending are hindering social work services. 40% of social workers have seen cuts to frontline staff in their team, with 8 out of 10 saying this has had a negative effect on their ability to work effectively. The results come from a survey of over 500 public sector social workers by specialist social work recruitment consultancy Liquid Personnel.
Perhaps more damaging are the cuts to administrative and support functions in social work teams; 55% of those surveyed said there had been cuts to these posts in their team. This has led to increased pressure on many social workers, leaving them with more administrative tasks to complete and less time to spend with service users. Of those respondents who said administrative posts had been cut, 9 out of 10 said this had had a negative effect on their ability to do their job effectively.
The level of time spent on bureaucratic and administrative tasks has already come under criticism in Professor Eileen Munro’s review of the child protection system, and these results support the idea that excessive paperwork is preventing social workers from fulfilling their statutory duties.
The survey has already shown that 69% of social workers have seen their caseloads increase in the last 12 months, and Jonathan Coxon, Liquid Personnel’s managing director, is calling for increased funding for the sector, saying:
“Social work is an essential frontline service, and the government have not fulfilled their promises to protect it, leaving councils to make very tough decisions about funding.”
“The resulting cuts have left social workers feeling betrayed, and if this is not addressed, we will struggle to retain the current crop of skilled social workers, let alone attract new people to the profession.”
“Frontline social workers need proper administrative support, leaving them free to spend more time with vulnerable children and adults. Cutting that support is clearly a false economy, as less time with service users will simply result in poorer standards of practice.”
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For more information about this survey, about Liquid Personnel, please contact us today.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Paul Cellini (p.cellini@liquidpersonnel.com OR 0161 710 2200)
