ADSS Wales sceptical over data on social workers

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