Council offers golden hellos to children’s NQSWs

Telford and Wrekin Council is offering newly qualified social workers £3,000 to join its children’s services to help staff cope with a recent hike in demand for services.

The golden hello, which is part of a £2.5m investment in the council’s safeguarding services, requires graduates to work there for at least two years or pay back a proportion of the money.

The Shropshire authority has also recruited a community social work team and improved its technological support for social workers.

“Recruiting social workers is a challenge for any council in the current environment,” said Stephen Burrell, Telford and Wrekin’s cabinet member for children and young people.

“We have committed significant investment to support our staff to meet the increased demand on our services.”

However, the council has also revealed that it needs to find savings of £4m a year after government grants were cut. It has yet to be announced which services will be affected.

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