North West, England, UK

Children's Services

Contract

Reference 3072

Social Worker | Duty & Assessment | Bolton Council
£37 per hour (Umbrella) | Locum

If you like fast-paced frontline work where decisions actually matter, Duty & Assessment is it. This is a great one for someone who’s confident with risk, can write a strong assessment, and doesn’t need hand-holding to prioritise properly.

About the role

You’ll sit at the front door of Children’s Services — screening contacts, progressing assessments, completing visits quickly, and making confident recommendations about next steps. The local expectation is child-focused, relationship-based practice, with strong multi-agency working and a clear emphasis on being transparent with families about worries, strengths, and what needs to change.

Key responsibilities

Complete Child & Family Assessments within statutory timescales
Undertake S47 enquiries, strategy discussions, and immediate safeguarding action
Progress cases to ICPC / Child Protection planning where thresholds are met
Produce clear, defensible recording and strong analysis (not just narrative)
Work closely with police, health, education and early help to coordinate plans
Make timely recommendations around step up/step down, legal planning and next interventions
Keep the child’s lived experience central in visits, direct work and planning

Benefits

High-impact work with variety (no two days are the same)
Strong skill-builder role (risk analysis, thresholds, decision-making)
£37/hr is solid for a D&A desk if the team setup is sensible

Requirements

SWE registration (Social Work England)
Recent children’s frontline experience (Duty & Assessment / Assessment / Safeguarding)
Confident with thresholds, fast turnaround visits, and high-quality written work
Enhanced DBS (or on the Update Service)