INTERNATIONAL social workers could be brought to Cumbria to help solve a long running shortage of qualified staff in the county.

New figures published by the Department for Education reveal the social care vacancy rate among those working with children and families stands at around 20 per cent.

It means 57 posts around the county are unfilled while demand upon the service continues to rocket.

Now, bosses within Cumbria County Council - the organisation that runs social services - is set to consider recruiting from countries including India and Poland in a bid to boost staff numbers.

The move would not only bring permanent social workers to Cumbria, it would help to cut costs by reducing the amount of money spent on agency staff, they add.

John Macilwraith, corporate director for children and familiy services, described the role of a social worker as 'difficult but highly rewarding'.

But he said: "Recruiting social workers is a challenge, and not just in Cumbria.

"We are very proactive in encouraging people to come to the county, our Social Work Academy is attracting the brightest and best new graduates and we have been innovative in our approach to recruiting experienced workers, including a generous incentive scheme."

Mr Macilwraith added: "We have also established a teaching partnership with Lancaster University, meaning our staff can benefit from excellent professional development opportunities.

"The approach has been successful, but we still need more people to join us. Like some other public services, in the coming year we will even be expanding our search overseas for suitably qualified people. "

The data, covering the 12 months leading to September last year, found 35 vacant posts were covered by agency workers.

CCC has the equivalent of 245 full time staff working with children and young people across the country.

But staff turnover hit nine per cent for the period in question with highly experienced social workers - those with ten to 20 years in the job -making up the largest group of leavers.

Similar rates elsewhere in the country sparked a warning from the British Association of Social Workers, which warned that pressure on social workers was untenable.

In Cumbria, each member of staff deals with an average caseload of 19.8, above the average rate for England of 17.8.

Maris Stratulis, BASW England manager, said: "The pressures on children's social workers are at times untenable as they are given unmanageable caseloads, work well over their hours and inevitably carry the stress of something going wrong on their caseload.

"We know only too well that the stakes are very high.

"The ratio between agency and permanent staff can also be disproportionate in some local authorities which might explain why vacancy rates are higher in some areas as social workers are only there for the short-term rather than the long haul.

"There may well also be a strong correlation between local authorities that have had a bad Ofsted as this can seriously lower morale among the workforce as the blame culture can be pernicious feeding the vicious cycle."

Council boss demands more cash for vulnerable children in Cumbria

THE woman in charge of children's services in Cumbria says the government must provide extra funding if children are to be kept safe.

Councillor Anne Burns, from Barrow, has been in charge of the department since 2013.

Just last week, she joined forced with other authorities in the North West to write to chancellor Philip Hammond over the inadequate level of funding provided for children's social care in the region.

There are currently more than 650 children in care in Cumbria alone with the number for the north west at a 20 year high.

With demand continuing to rise and CCC set to record one of the highest overspends in the country this year, the situation has become unsustainable, Cllr Burns said.

"Like many other councils our children’s services budget will be overspent again this year," she added.

"And that’s simply because the level of demand keeps increasing. We cannot continue like this."

Children's services exits special measures

CUMBRIA'S troubled social services department was lifted out of special measures in January for the first time in four years.

The service was rated as 'requires improvement' following a crunch inspection from government watchdog Ofsted in November.

It had previously been found to be inadequate at three successive inspections - in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

Monthly audits have since taken place to ensure progress was being secured.

Bosses pledged to continue to seek improvements in a bid to secure a 'good' rating at the next inspection.

John Macilwraith, CCC's corporate director for children and family services, took over in 2014.

"We now have a platform to build on and I am confident that our positive progress will continue.”