Gatland House in Gatland Lane, Maidstone, holding an open day

by political editor Paul Francis

Golden hellos of £2,000 are to be offered to newly-qualified social workers who come to Kent to address a long-standing recruitment problem.

Frontline staff who work in child protection are also to be offered annual lump sum bonuses of up to £3,000 a year if they meet targets set for dealing with cases.

The measures, agreed by county councillors at a cabinet meeting, are expected to cost Kent County Council more than £4m over the next two years.

The cash incentives are the latest steps being taken by KCC to turn around failing services for vulnerable children.

Figures show that nearly one in three social workers in Kent have less than a year’s experience - twice as many as council chiefs say is desirable.

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Data also shows that KCC is relying heavily on temporary agency staff and overseas recruitment to plug gaps.

The authority has suffered chronic problems recruiting staff, as have many other social services departments and the issue of shortages was among those flagged up by Ofsted in a damning inspection last year.

As well as the golden hellos and annual bonuses, 248 other more experienced social workers are to get a 2.5 per cent salary increase to ensure their pay stays ahead of newly qualified staff.

Social services chiefs say they hope to recruit 110 additional social workers this year.

At £26,422, starting salaries for new social workers in Kent currently lags behind some others in the south east, including Medway where they start at £27,849.

Starting salaries for those with experience are more competitive, ranging between £30,220 and £35,724 but with fewer ‘extras’ than some councils offer.

Malcolm Newsam, KCC’s interim director of families, acknowledged that Kent had "too many inexperienced staff" and said the strategy would boost recruitment and help stop staff leaving.

"It is going to do two things - retain our best people and attract experienced social workers to come to Kent."

But he added reasonable workloads and high-quality support for social workers was "equally important."