That is one of the key highlights of the annual report of the city's Principal Social Worker, which shows the progress Jenny Rogers and her team have made against key priorities for adults and children's services over the last 12 months, and which sets a number of priorities for the year ahead.
In particular, the report shows that the turnover rate of social workers in Wolverhampton is lower than the national average, with the rate in children's services 8.7% compared to 13.8% nationally, and the rate in adult services 12.3% compared to 12.8% in England as a whole.
The report says that, nationally, social work is challenged by 'high turnover and vacancy rates, which can leave social workers trying to work with too many individuals'. However, significant activity has taken place in Wolverhampton to both recruit and retain social workers, including embedding strong programmes of support for social workers in their first and second years after qualifying, and taking steps to reduce stress levels and absence rates and to make workloads more manageable.
Other areas of strength highlighted in the report include collaboration with the University of Wolverhampton to develop research circles which brings academic research to frontline practitioners to support evidence based practice, which has received excellent feedback. There has also been praise for training and development opportunities, with 90% of social workers reporting high satisfaction rates in 2024 to 2025.
Councillor Paula Brookfield, Cabinet Member for Adults, said: "The report shows our continued commitment to social work practice and learning and development which in turn supports better outcomes for the people and families we support.
“Our social workers value this, and this shows in the very high number of social workers who would recommend the council as an employer to others.
"There has been continued activity to support the recruitment and retention of social workers over the last 12 months, and we recognise how important it is to support our newly qualified social workers and ensure they have what they need to grow and thrive in the profession.
“Social workers can sometimes get overlooked for the contributions they make and so it's also vital that we also continue to raise the profile of social work and recognise the great work that they do for people and families in Wolverhampton.”
Councillor Jacqui Coogan, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education, added: "We are very proud of all our social workers and we want to thank every single one of them for the fantastic work they do.
"Great lengths are being taken to recruit and retain our social workers, which is a national challenge. However, the Principal Social Worker's report shows that our turnover is well below the national average and this is testament to the approach that is being taken here in Wolverhampton.
“We are also very proud that 25 of our social workers and 2 teams were recognised nationally by the British Association of Social Workers, for being Amazing Social workers, earlier this year.”
The Principal Social Worker's annual report will be presented to members of the council’s Cabinet on Wednesday (23 July, 2025).
