Response to the proposals given by Ed Balls on 6 May 2009

Response to the proposals given by Ed Balls on 6 May 2009:

Paul Marriott, Operations Director of Hays Social Care, comments:
It is an absolute tragedy that it has taken the case of Baby P to raise the plight of problems within the social care system. There has been systematic underinvestment in social care for many years, which has resulted in a severe shortage of experienced social workers. Any investment in the sector is welcome, and measures such as the sponsorship of university places are small steps to encourage workers to pursue these careers. Focusing on encouraging social workers to return to the profession and ensuring that the immigration rules allow workers from overseas, are positive moves to plug gaps but the numbers still donít match up. The shortages are now so severe that this short term action is welcome, but we also need to see more substantial long term action, which really gets to the heart of the problem. A recent survey showed that just under 70 per cent of social work graduates were employed in graduate jobs – the perception of the industry as a whole needs to be addressed and a long term career structure needs to be introduced.