Children's Departments (Field Staff)

HC Deb 13 February 1969 vol 777 c356W

40. Mr. Worsley

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to curb the trend whereby the number of field officers employed in local authority children's departments leaving such work has risen in recent years.

Mr. Elystan Morgan

Excluding promotions, local authority children's departments in England and Wales lost 15.5 per cent. of their field staff in 1967–68 as against 15.1 per cent. in 1965–66. These figures do not appear to be unreasonably high. The number of field staff in post increased from 2,010 at 31st March, 1965, to 3,038 at 31st March, 1968.