Union tells Tories to act on social worker shortages

(03/02/09) UNISON today called on the Conservative Party to stop complaining about shortages of social workers – as the answer to the problem lies in its own hands.

General secretary Dave Prentis said: "Only last week, UNISON described the shortage of social workers as a "ticking time bomb" and called on councils to take urgent action.

"It's a bit rich for the Tories to start whinging about the crisis in recruiting and retaining social workers when they run most councils. The answer to the problem lies in their hands."

And Mr Prentis was clear that the Conservatives could start "by sorting out local government pay – still outstanding from April last year – and pulling local government staff off the bottom of the public sector pay league."

He continued: "The Tories could also pay more to recruit and retain social workers and other key council staff if they had the political will to do so.

"Why don't they just get on with the job and stop wasting public funds asking their friends in local government for answers to questions they should already know?"

In England and Wales, the Conservatives run 216 councils, while 104 are under no overall control, 48 are run by Labour, 27 by the Liberal Democrats and eight by independents.

This means that the Conservatives run 54% of councils – and are often the largest group on councils under no overall control. The party also chairs the Local Government Association.

As part of its submission to the Laming enquiry, UNISON has produced a 10-point plan that aimed at tacking the growing crisis in child protection.

Press release – answer to social worker crisis in Tory hands

UNISON warns of ticking time bomb in child protection

UNISON in social care

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