Surrey DCS ‘frustrated’ by Channel 4’s undercover social worker

molly.garboden@rbi.co.uk

Surrey council’s director of children’s services was “disappointed” and “frustrated” by channel 4’s Dispatches: Undercover Social Worker, aired earlier this week.

“My initial response is that the programme didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know, largely because it was filmed last autumn and a lot has changed since then,” Andy Roberts told Community Care.

Roberts said the council had implemented an entirely new structure in the spring, which divided social care teams according to area of expertise rather than geography. Services are now divided it into child protection, children with disabilities, children in need and looked after children.

This approach, he said, had cleared up a lot of the council’s problems highlighted in the documentary.

“We’ve gone for a much more specialised model because, while we were attracted by the fact that a rich and varied diet helps with recruitment, we want to make sure the children in this council get the best we can provide.”

Roberts added that as a result, the “vast majority” of staff had seen a decrease in workload.

The department’s vacancy rate had improved as well, he said, dropping from the “high teens” two years ago to a current 3%, 8% counting positions filled by agency staff.

Roberts main disappointment with Channel 4’s programme was, however, the missed opportunity to put social workers in a rarely seen sympathetic light.

“Nationally, we know that social workers and the system are under enormous pressure, but I don’t think this sort of programme helps anybody.

“It had an opportunity to make a case about how social work is and what can be done to improve it, but the film makers chose not to take that route.”

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