Children's services in Wakefield are suffering as social workers take better-paid jobs, a meeting heard.
Wakefield Council's children's services were rated "inadequate" in 2018 but have since been completely transformed, Ofsted said
Wakefield Council heard many social workers nationally were being "poached" from councils to work for more pay at agencies.Cheryl Whitehouse, acting service director, said it was a national issue and not one confined to Wakefield. Ms Whitehouse said: "We know there are project teams outside of the Inland Revenue regulations and social workers can get considerable tax benefits as a result of going to their teams.
She said the service had put together a "recruitment and retention workforce strategy" which included increasing social work pay grades.A spokesperson for the authority said a programme of social worker apprenticeships had also begun which saw the council working with universities as part of a recruitment drive to relieve pressure on its children's services department.
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