New initiatives are to blame for luring qualified social work staff away from the frontline, according to a taskforce set up a year ago to examine the scale of Scotland’s recruitment and retention difficulties.
The main issues for the councils are new initiatives, such as Sure Start, attracting staff away from direct contact with clients, a reduction in the number of qualified staff available for employment, the poor image of social work and fear of litigation.
Kingsley Thomas, chairperson of the task group, said: "The government keeps giving money to local authorities to develop better integrated services for children.
"Demand for services has meant that vacancy rates in many areas are now increasing. We need urgently to make social work a much more attractive career option," he said.
A report from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, ‘Caring for the Future’, revealed that 23 out of the 24 councils questioned reported recruitment problems.
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