More social work posts at council

Sheffield Council is planning to spend £1.6m on improving social services in the city.

Details of the proposal, which will see the creation of more than 40 social work posts, are being discussed by the authority's Scrutiny Board.

It follows the findings of an internal report last month which found child social workers in the city had too many cases to handle.

The review was carried out in the wake of Baby Peter's death in north London.

It also found that two of every three social workers in Sheffield were "inexperienced".

Councillor Andrew Sangar, cabinet member for children's services, said: "Following the tragic death of Baby Peter, we have looked at the service.

"The balance between front-line staff and other services in the council wasn't quite right.

"This is about saying the investment needs to be on the frontline where social workers can make interventions that can help Sheffield children."