Nobody turns up at jobs fairs for social workers

"There is a national shortage of social workers," says Sharon Powell, head of Powys children's social services

Nobody turned up at two out of four recruitment events to fill social worker and care roles in Powys.

A county council report said the drive by its social services department had only "limited success".

However, the events had been "purposely scheduled" to target people on their way home from work using venues close to major road networks.

The health and care scrutiny committee was told last year's events were publicised online due to media advertising being "incredibly expensive", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Committee chair Amanda Jenner questioned the effectiveness of using social media, claiming people were a "bit exhausted by everything they see online".

But children's social services head Sharon Powell explained that the social media advertising strategy had been evaluated and people had been enticed to events by the adverts online.

"There is a national shortage of social workers," she said.

The committee was told the council’s communications team was "liaising" with local media and that a press release to promote future recruitment events was being prepared.

"It's about marketing ourselves and selling our good news stories," she said.

An example of this, according to Ms Powell, was that some agency staff had decided to become council social workers.

"We can always do more to communicate that narrative wider and what we have succeeded on," she added.