The roles of a social worker unclear to all.

Most people don’t understand what social workers in Lincolnshire do, according to the union officials who represent them.

And this means it is difficult to recruit enough people to staff all the available posts in the county.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed 14 out of 212 social worker positions within children’s services were currently vacant.

Additionally, a further eight positions have been frozen by the county council for unspecified reasons.

Unison, the trade union for those working in the public sectors, admitted there was a problem in recruiting and retaining social workers.

John Sharman, the Unison branch secretary for Lincolnshire, explained a greater understanding of what social workers contribute to society is needed to get more people in to the profession.

He said: “The problem is about society as a whole recognising what social workers contribute.

“For a long time, we’ve been in a media culture which latches on when things go wrong and creates an atmosphere where it’s not an appealing job. Actually, it’s extremely rewarding.

“However, there’s also an issue of resources. We’re constantly hearing from our members complaints of very high case loads. The more that is piled upon them, the more demands there are on their time, and the less time they have to actually visit families.”

The union’s head of local government for the East Midlands region Ravi Subramanian said: “The shortage of social workers is unsurprising, given the barrage of bad publicity facing the profession.

“If we want to see an improvement in the number of people wanting to be social workers, it is vital all councils fully implement the recommendations from the government’s Social Worker Task Force review.

“The public, in general, need a better understanding of the difficult but vital work social workers do to support families and vulnerable people.”

The assistant director of children’s services for Lincolnshire County Council, Sue Westcott, said the council was currently looking to recruit eight new social workers and was not currently facing any difficulties.

She said: “Good procedures and training programmes are in place for our social workers to give them good support and help them develop.

“We are following a number of initiatives to encourage and develop interest in the profession including a training and recruitment link with the Lincoln of University.”