Information obtained by South Wales West AM, Alun Cairns, details a varied and concerning picture of provision across Wales.
“These figures show a worrying number of at-risk children in Wales have not been allocated a social worker.
“I was very concerned to learn that councils in my own region had large numbers of at-risk children, with 116 unallocated cases in the Swansea Council and 120 in Bridgend.
“It is important to remember that these answers only provided a snapshot of the position on a given day in Wales which was September 1 last year and the situation does change day by day as some children are allocated a social worker and others enter the system.
“Indeed, some councils like Blaenau Gwent, Pembrokeshire and Newport had no unallocated cases and other councils had just a handful.
“But the fact remains that every day in Wales there are hundreds of children who are either on the child protection registers, actually in care or classed as being in need who do not have a qualified social worker allocated to them.”
Mr Cairns welcomed the Deputy Minister for Social Services’ commitment yesterday to investigate some local authorities following him raising the matter during Assembly questions.
He added:
“I am pleased that the Deputy Minister has recognised the seriousness of the situation and will now be investigating some of the local authorities I highlighted.
“However, I would reiterate the importance of having a Wales-wide investigation to establish how long children in Wales are waiting on average for a social worker.
“Unless children have a qualified social worker, it is impossible to know whether or not they are at serious risk.
“This is absolutely essential in ensuring at-risk children in Wales are properly protected.”
