Social workers employed to help Bexley’s vulnerable kids are being “poached” by nearby councils following the authority’s impressive Ofsted rating last year.

The council is set to pump £150k into incentives to attract and keep its skilled social workers in a bid to stop the routine of “churning” staff.

An ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating has led to Bexley’s staff becoming attractive to nearby councils which will pay above and beyond what Bexley offers.

According to a new report: “The position we currently have in respect of a strong permanent workforce base, whilst well established is fragile and churn of staff is a serious threat to our costs and the quality of outcomes for children.

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“This is critical for Bexley, if it is to hold on to its inspection rating, being landlocked by strong authorities in Kent and Greenwich and Bromley and Lewisham who are prepared to pay over the odds to attract good staff.”

At a children’s scrutiny meeting, Jacky Tiotto, the council’s director of children’s services, admitted nearby councils had been approaching social workers.

“We do lose staff to neighbouring boroughs. The national figures about to be published up to March last year show we lost 40 social workers in that year for a variety of reasons.

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“We have really got to turn our mind to it. We know we are attractive to newly qualified workers but when they’ve done their two years here we lose them. That’s our challenge.

“The lure is always money. We do try and keep people – we haven’t had a haemorrhage yet.”

The council has saved £340k by reducing its reliance on agency staff but paying out more in incentives to keep staff on the books – with pay increases coming in somewhere in the region of £300k above budget.

Nationally there has been a struggle in recruiting social workers, with recent research showing a 17 per cent vacancy rate across the country.