Council children's services in ‘staff crisis’
Powys County Council's troubled children's services are unsustainable due to high levels of sickness and staff leaving their jobs, according to a new report.
In October, the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales found that the council's children's services were putting children at serious risk of harm due to their failings.
A new report that will go before the council's cabinet on Tuesday says improvements have been made but concerns have been raised about a significant number of agency workers.
The report says that while agency workers have helped bring stability and reduce case loads, staffing problems are still an issue.
High levels of staff have been leaving in Newtown and Welshpool and there has been high levels of absence.
The report by Rachel Powell, cabinet member for children's services, says: "Plans are in place to strengthen these teams with additional agency social workers."
In October, following the first report of troubles in the service, the authority was talking to police about the potential manipulation of performance data.
The authority was given 90 days to improve by the Welsh Government, and early signs of improvement were found in December, but there were still a number of considerable actions left to take.
