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The Association of Directors of Social Services in Wales is sceptical that new figures showing a sharp rise in the number of social workers are accurate, writes Derren Hayes.

Local Government Data Unit Wales statistics show that an extra 130 social workers were employed by local authorities at September 2004 than the previous year, a 6.5 per cent increase.

But Tony Garthwaite, ADSS Wales’s workforce spokesperson, while cautiously welcoming the increase, said the findings did not match its own research.

“Their data for the number of social workers isn’t consistent with the figures we have from our own surveys,” he explained.

ADSS’s survey findings are to be published shortly, but Garthwaite suggested the figures did not take into account numbers of new posts created and different council’s definitions of social workers, which sometimes include team managers and support staff.

Statistics from www.dataunitwales.gov.uk