Social Worker | Children in our Care |Lancaster

Lancashire County Council Children's Services is a progressive and innovative place, embracing strengths-based approaches and the Family Safeguarding model of practice. There are a range of exciting opportunities available across our social work teams as we go through positive changes and develop our service. This is a wonderful time to come and work for us!

As one of the largest local authorities with a diverse and evolving range of services there are also many opportunities for future career progression and professional development. The right support is key to effective practice and your positive experience as a Social Worker, and we have a fantastic group of managers who share our values and aspirations for our service and their Social Workers to provide the support you need to thrive in your work.

The Family Safeguarding model is our model of practice, and we use a strengths-based approach across every team to work with children, young people and families, to offer the right support at the right time.

Within the Children in Our Care service we care and dare to have big goals, huge ambitions and aspirational dreams for our children and support them to achieve and believe in themselves.  Our children are at the very heart of absolutely everything we do, and we include our children in every decision made, from the very small ones to the really big ones!  We try not to let the sky limit us to how creative we can work together with our children.

We spend a lot of time listening to our children, and what they tell us is that they want us to organise lots of events & activities and to have fun with us – so this is what we do.  We have a strong focus on celebrating our children's achievements and successes, no matter how small or big and we encourage our children to dream big for themselves, so we can dream even bigger for them

As corporate parents, we work closely with our children's schools, health practitioners, foster carers, residential staff, and all the other professionals working with our children so that we can jointly support our children to achieve in every aspect of their childhood, into their adulthood.

• Recognised Social Work Degree
• Social Work England registration
• Experience supporting children & families
• Excellent communication skills
• The ability to collaborate and work effectively with multi-agency partners

In return Lancashire County Council offers a range of benefits, which can be found on LCC Vacancies website.

• Our Commitment: In Lancashire we understand the importance of the right support, a healthy work-life balance and a manageable caseload. We are using national funding opportunities to enhance the developments in our service such as reducing caseloads, offering the best training and support, and increasing the range of services we offer to ensure our Social Workers can make a positive impact for Lancashire's children and families.
• Training and Development: New recruits attend our established Social Work Academy, an extensive induction programme, followed by regular recall days and training for ASYE's to support increased knowledge and confidence in practice. The Academy is run by our team of Advanced Practitioners who provide a range of support, training and development across our service to help practice to be at the highest standards.

If you are interested in applying for this role, please submit the following with your application:

• CV/Resume
• Supporting Statement

If you would like to discuss the role further, please contact our talent team, via Talent@lancashire.gov.uk for an informal chat.

Closing Date:                 31 October 2026

Interviews:                     Weekly interview slots

Join us in making a difference in the lives of children and families in Lancashire!

Please ensure you have uploaded and attached your supporting statement to evidence how you meet the criteria for the role. The panel may be unable to shortlist you for interview without this evidence.

The post you are applying for is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). If successful, you will be required to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for a 'disclosure'. Further information can be found on the 'Our Recruitment Process' tab.

You must be registered (SWE) to be appointed as a Social Worker or have applied to register with the Social Care Council. For Social Worker/Care Manager positions where non social worker qualifications are accepted, registration is not required, and you will be appointed as a Care Manager.

You will be required to provide a car for use in connection with the duties of this post and must be insured for business use.

We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.

Local Government Reorganisation

The Government has confirmed that local government across Lancashire will be reorganised, with the current 15 councils being replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire from April 2028.

If you are successful in your application, you will initially join Lancashire County Council. However, as part of the planned transition, your employment will transfer to one of the new unitary councils from April 2028, subject to the implementation of the reorganisation and relevant employment legislation.

Throughout this period, our focus remains on delivering excellent services to our communities. By joining us now, you'll play an important role in shaping the future of local government and helping to build a strong new organisation that will serve residents for years to come.

Job Description and Person Specification