Some children in Bedford borough’s safeguarding system have had close to 10 different social workers over the past two years, a council report has revealed.
The finding appears in a report presented to Bedford Borough Council’s Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee (26 January), which examined staff turnover in children’s social care and its impact on vulnerable families.
The report warns that families can lose “faith in the service” as workers change repeatedly.
This disrupts long-term planning, making it harder to track progress in cases involving neglect or child protection concerns.
The report said: “If a child is averaging having a new social worker every three months, that equates to six or seven visits and two core group meetings
“If you factor in the introductory and goodbye visit, it gives little time for a child and family to spend any meaningful time with a worker and for the worker to understand the history and dynamics needed to progress the plan.”
The report adds that families may ask new workers “how long they will be around for”, highlighting the emotional toll of repeated professional changes.
Speaking to the committee, Jonathan Churchill, service director for children’s social care, said the council was now close to having an almost entirely permanent workforce.
“We started a couple of years ago with 43 per cent of our staff permanent,” he said.
“We are now at around 70 per cent; if you take out fixed-term posts, it is closer to 80 per cent.
“Which is great, because it leads to better relationship-based work with families and young people.”
“We need to be better”
Cllr John Wheeler (Conservative, Wootton and Kempston Rural) told the committee he had heard complaints directly from young people.
“I had a looked-after child who said, ‘I’m fed up of being asked the same questions, why don’t they read the notes?’”
Mr Churchill accepted the criticism: “That’s a fair comment. We need to be better at that.”
The committee heard that a restructuring process is underway that should reduce caseload levels and make the posts “more attractive to permanent staff”.
by John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
