MORE than one in six jobs in Wiltshire’s child social services were unfilled before the outbreak of COVID-19, with concerns the crisis could put vulnerable children at even greater risks.

However, Wiltshire Council has invested £1.2m into child services to create an additional 26 social worker posts, which the council are recruiting to fill.

Social workers in Wiltshire had an average of 17 cases each in September, up from 14.3 in 2016, the first year in which caseload figures were published.

Despite this increase, the 2019 Ofsted report praised the service: “The local authority has improved its services for children and offers a consistently good response to families and children in need of help and protection.

“The extra resource has successfully stabilised social work teams, bringing down workloads to a manageable level.”

Cllr Pauline Church, cabinet member for children, education and skills, said: “We are one of the front runners in the south west for investing in our social workers to ensure we have sufficient available to care for our children and young people who need our support.

“In June Ofsted judged our Family and Children’s Service to be good; Ofsted recognised our recent investment when they stated the extra resource has successfully stabilised social work teams, bringing down workloads to a manageable level.”

The government has predicted that up to a fifth of the workforce across Britain could be off work at the peak of the coronavirus.

The DfE says the emergency Coronavirus Act will help social workers continue their vital role.

A spokesman said: “We are working urgently to address the additional challenges they face, including through our Act, which will reduce burdens on social workers and help others return to the profession.”

But the Social Workers Union says councils need an urgent cash injection for child services, as well as personal protective equipment.

John McGowan, general secretary of the Social Workers Union, said: “There’s a lot of support for NHS staff but few mentions of social workers who are out seven days a week helping vulnerable people.

“There needs to be an expression that social workers are a part of this too, that they are essential, and they need to feel valued.”