Black social worker representation halves between front line and management, data shows

Chief social worker Isabelle Trowler says action needed to tackle drop-off in representation of staff from minority groups at senior level in children’s services, whose staffing remains ‘very white’. The representation of Black social workers in the children’s services workforce in English councils halves between the front line and management, Department for Education (DfE) data has shown. There is also a drop-off in the proportion of Asian practitioners and those from mixed or multiple ethnic groups at senior levels, compared with the front line, according to the figures, which date from September 2024. By contrast, the proportion of white social workers increases with seniority, revealed the data, which has been published on the DfE’s children’s social care dashboard.  Read more.