An action plan to tackle a severe shortage of social workers to protect vulnerable children such as Baby Peter has been dismissed as “tinkering” by senior professionals.

They said a new Government scheme to fast-track 200 high-flying graduates into social work was an inadequate response to the child protection crisis that has left social workers swamped with dozens of complex cases of possible abuse or neglect.

The scheme, along with a recruitment drive to lure back thousands of experienced social workers who have left the profession, will be introduced without any move to increase pay. Social workers’ salaries lag behind other professions such as nursing.

Ministers also made clear there was no more money for child protection services, although £58 million was earmarked for a recruitment drive.

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The Government seems determined to perpetuate the bureaucracy which was an obstacle to saving Baby Peter

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One in seven social work posts is vacant in England, a 30 per cent rise since 2005, with local authorities saying the Baby Peter tragedy had made the situation worse.

The action plan also creates a new grade of “advanced social worker” to try to keep experienced staff on the front line, rather than in management.

The plan was part of the Government’s response to Lord Laming’s report into child protection after the death of Peter. The 17-month-old toddler was seen on 60 separate occasions by social workers and other professionals before he died of his injuries in August 2007. His mother, her boyfriend and a lodger will be sentenced for causing or allowing his death later this month. Last week the boyfriend was convicted of raping a two-year-old girl.

Lord Laming said too many social workers were ill equipped for the challenges of frontline child protection work, which is increasingly complex with the rise of alcohol and drug abuse among parents.

Although entry-level salaries for social workers are similar to those of nurses and teachers, they have to become managers if they want to earn more than £29,000. Yet a teacher can still be in the classroom and earn as much as £55,000, while a nurse can still care for patients and earn up to £40,000 as a ward sister.

Ed Balls, the Children’s Secretary, said that he would not meddle with social workers’ salaries — part of the annual local government pay settlement. Staff have just been offered a 0.4 per cent increase for next year.

Any extra money for child protection services would be a matter for the next spending round in 2011, he said.

Lord Laming’s recommendation that budgets for child protection should be ring-fenced, like those for schools, was still under consideration, Mr Balls said.

Professionals, charities and opposition parties all expressed disappointment with the plan, accusing the Government of attempting a “quick fix”.

Camila Batmanghelidjh, the founder of the children’s charity Kids Company, said that the reforms did not address the real problem — that social work was often a dangerous job and caseloads were too high. “The fact is that social workers cannot cope with the sheer workload of the children and the complex cases that are emerging. Social workers are walking into estates having to negotiate aggressive dogs, weapons and very, very difficult working circumstances,” she said.

“It just feels like the Government has no understanding of what it takes to do social work at street level.”

Directors of children’s services called it “tinkering”.

“It is disappointing that Lord Laming’s recommendation that Government provides sufficient funding for child protection in frontline agencies has not resulted in an increase in the basic funding of such services,” said Kim Bromley-Derry, president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services.

Frontline social workers were also disappointed that no limit was set to the number of caseloads they should be given — one of their key requests — although Mr Balls said that would be addressed by a new social work taskforce later this year.

Annette Brooke, the Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on children, accused the Government of “losing the plot”. She said: “Today’s measures are just a quick fix. There is not enough detail about the proposed new targets and, too often, government targets increase red tape and divert resources from the front line. We need a root and branch review of child protection, learning the lessons from the past and from good practice abroad.” Tim Loughton, the Conservative children’s spokesman, said: “The Government has social work reform back to front. Ministers cannot hope to entice more social workers back into the profession unless they fix the problems that originally drove them out.

“Social workers need to be back on the beat, not stuck in their seats. The Government has to take away the tick boxes and cut through the bureaucracy so the professionals can spend more time with children in need.”

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