Social Workers: Training

(asked on 18th March 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the maximum number of cases in a supervisor's name is that may be allocated to a participant in the Frontline programme without a local authority incurring a financial penalty.


Answered by
Edward Timpson Portrait
Edward Timpson
This question was answered on 23rd March 2015

There is no maximum number of cases for allocation to Frontline participants and there are no financial penalties for allocating more than a set number of cases.

Arrangements for social worker case management are at the discretion of the employer. There is no statutory limit on caseloads. Many variables are taken into account, such as levels of demand, capacity of the local authority, capability of the whole workforce and of individual practitioners, level of risk to children, and complexity of social need of families. These variables can change frequently.

Newly qualified social workers are allocated cases but should receive supervision from more experienced social workers. The Local Government Standards for Employers of Social Workers in England set out expectations for employers of social workers, including newly qualified social workers, regarding case load. The guidance is available here:

http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/6188796/The+Standards+-+updated+July+01+2014/146988cc-d9c5-4311-97d4-20dfc19397bf

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