Children’s social worker vacancy rates fell to 6% in 2011

The vacancy rate for children’s social workers in England dropped to 6.1% by the end of 2011, according to data collected by the Department for Education (DfE).

An investigation by Community Care published in September 2011 found that the average vacancy rate in children’s services in England was 8.8%, based on responses from 142 local authorities.

The DfE’s research, based on data from 71 authorities, was collected using the national minimum dataset for social care and gives a snapshot of the workforce as it was on 31 December.

The research found one in 11 children’s social workers leaves their post each year. One in six (16%) was aged 55 or over and therefore likely to retire in the next 10 years.

The median annual salary for a local authority children’s social worker was £31,200 in 2011.

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