Social Worker - Duty & Assessment

Halton Borough Council; Runcorn; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday entitlement 34+ days

LGPS pension scheme

Life cover 3x

Personal development investment

Free car parking

Flexible working

Employee benefits platform

Job summary

Halton Borough Council is recruiting an experienced Social Worker to join the Duty and Assessment Team in Widnes. You will identify and assess risk, deliver protective or supportive services for children at risk, and co-ordinate with the Child in Need team for longer-term support.

The role is based in Widnes with some travel across the Borough. We offer a generous holiday entitlement, LGPS, life cover, development opportunities and flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Experience in social work with children and families.
• Ability to assess risk and needs and deliver protective or supportive services.

Responsibilities

• Identify and assess levels of risk and need for children and young people.
• Deliver protective or supportive services for children at risk or in need of support.
• Coordinate with the Child in Need team for longer-term support when required.
• Provide support across the Borough with appropriate inter-agency collaboration.

Job description

Social Worker – DAT

Do you have a passion for making a meaningful impact in the lives of children? Are you looking for somewhere that allows you to truly shape the life chances of children and young people? We are looking to recruit experienced Social Workers to support us on our improvement journey. Join a team where we’re always looking ahead — a place that’s deeply committed to continuous learning, growth, and career progression.

X1 Permanent X1 Secondment Cover

Our Story

Halton is a vibrant local authority area encompassing Widnes and Runcorn, with a rich history and heritage, featuring two iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey. Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester. Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives. It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services. We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team

The Duty and Assessment Team are a dedicated and impactful team, who are at the heart of positive change — working directly with children, families, and partner agencies to ensure every child’s needs are met swiftly and effectively. With a strong focus on collaboration and timely support, this is a team where your work truly makes a difference.

Hours

37

Your Contributions

As a Social Worker within our Duty and Assessment Team, you will identify and assess levels of risk and need, and deliver protective or supportive services for children at risk, in need of support and or looked after. If the child/young person requires longer term support you will assist in ensuring that they are allocated to a social worker in our Child in Need team. This role is based in our office in Widnes with some travel across the Borough.

Our Offer

Aside from working with a great team, our employees have access to a fantastic range of benefits, including:

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long service
• Membership of our defined benefit, salary-linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions
• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme
• Investment in your personal development
• Free Car Parking at HBC sites
• Flexible working arrangements
• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme

We have a strong vision for social work practice in Halton and we are currently embedding a relationship based practice model that has systemic practice at its core. We’re on a journey for excellence and we’ve made it our mission to ensure that children and young people get the best service from us, so they are able to thrive and achieve.

We are committed to supporting our Social Workers and Managers to achieve their aspirations too. Working with us, you will have real opportunities to progress your career through training and development as an advanced practitioner, or future leader.

We have a stable and experienced Senior Leadership Team, who lead from the front. The Head of Service, Service Manager and Team Manager are well established staff members in Halton, who are supportive and nurturing.

You will receive bespoke support from the Social Work Academy who are integral in supporting this team in our improvement journey, providing advice, guidance and support to colleagues in this service area.

Market Supplement

The Market Supplement applicable to the advertised role is as follows: For salaries of HBC 7 and HBC8 - £2,710 per annum A market supplement is payable for those hard to fill posts within Children’s Services, effective from 1st October 2024 until March 2025 then for another 2 further full financial years until 31st March 2027.

We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual. This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long-term health conditions. If you require accommodations, please reach out during the recruitment process so that we can make this the best possible experience for you – [e-mail]