Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to promote social work as a career choice.

We will continue to promote social work as a career through our investment in social work fast track training programmes. Frontline has a remit to attract into the profession high performing graduates who may not previously have considered social work as a career. Frontline maintains a significant presence in university campuses, attracting a record number of candidates to start the programme this year.

We shall also continue to work with local authorities and universities, through our Step Up and Teaching Partnership programmes, to attract people with the right skills and experiences from within their communities to become social workers.