The head of SOLACE has accused politicians of causing the current crisis in the recruitment and retention of child social workers in the wake of the death of Baby P. Writing on his blog, SOLACE chief executive, David Clark, condemned education secretary, Ed Balls, for ‘throwing' £58m at the problem, claiming money was not the solution. He blamed politicians of ‘all hues' for being ‘happy to put the boot in to social workers at every level' during the Baby P fiasco at Haringey LBC. Since the baby's death at the hands of his parents, councils have been struggling to recruit children's social workers. Mr Clark warned: ‘Political leaders need to frame this debate in mature reflection on the issues, or soon we may have no childcare social work profession at all.' He called for a system which would ensure the work of children's social workers to be regulated away from ‘a howling debating chamber egged on by a tabloid feeding frenzy'. The comments come as the three Haringey social workers who were fired following the death of Baby P are to appeal against their sackings.
