Liverpool unveils £1.7m restructure of social work teams

Liverpool Council has announced plans to recruit 31 more social workers and managers as part of a £1.7m restructure of its children and families teams.

Frontline staff will earn up to £38,500 under a new pay scale, with an upper limit of £42,900 for team leaders, and £51,500 for managers. There will be an additional allowance of £1,700 per year for all new and existing staff in the safeguarding team working in child protection and with looked-after children, to reflect the challenging aspects of their role.

Workforce increasing by 20%

The council has started advertising for 24 new social workers and deputy team leaders and seven team leaders and managers, which will increase the workforce size by 20%.

Sandra Campbell, Liverpool Council’s assistant executive director for children, said: “We are committed to recruiting and retaining the very best staff, and that is why the salaries we are offering are extremely competitive.

Smaller teams and more support

“We are creating new smaller teams and providing additional managerial support for front line social workers to give them extra assistance when faced with vulnerable children and families,” she added. “Social work can be a job full of challenges and difficult decisions, but it is also very rewarding and we want to give our staff the very best support.”

More than 120 applications received

The council, which is taking part in a government-funded social work practice pilot scheme, in which responsibility for 120 looked-after children will be outsourced to local charity Personal Service Society, said it had already received more than 120 “high-quality” applications for the posts.

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