Lancashire County Council has embarked on a £4.6m drive to recruit social workers and other specialist staff across its social care, safeguarding, inspection, audit and adoption services.

The recruitment drive will enable caseloads to be reduced and increase support for frontline staff. It will also create additional professional development and training opportunities, improving the quality of practice and recording of case work.

The new investment is part of the council's response to a recent Ofsted inspection of children's services.

Speaking about the recruitment drive, County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said:

"We believe that putting more staff in place will ultimately help us to improve these vital services for children and their families. We have already filled all of the vacant posts we had prior to the Ofsted inspection and this recruitment drive will expand our team further.

"The difficulty of recruiting experienced front-line staff is recognised across the country which is why we are looking at new ways of recruiting. We've created a dedicated area on the county council's website to explain the opportunities and benefits on offer, and we're also running a recruitment evening for potential applicants to come along and find out more.

"We passionately believe that this is a great place to live and work and we are really keen to talk to people who want to commit to providing high quality services for children and their families in Lancashire."

The £4.6m investment will enable the council to recruit 48 front-line social workers, 12 advanced practitioners and 15 Independent Reviewing Officers, as well as a range of team leaders and more senior managers.

For more information, search for "careers in children's social care" on the county council's website – www.lancashire.gov.uk/jobs . The opening evening takes place on Wednesday 15 June from 5pm to 7pm at Woodlands Conference Centre on Southport Road in Chorley and is open to anybody interested in applying for a role.