Lambeth

The Borough of Lambeth reaches south from the Thames at the South Bank and Vauxhall, through Clapham and Brixton to Streatham Vale and West Norwood. The area has a rich history of welcoming visitors and is home to communities from around the globe. Brixton is a centre of African-Caribbean culture with a legendary market showcasing food from every continent.

Meanwhile, we’re home to some of London’s best-known attractions, such as the London Eye, the Sea Life London Aquarium, and Lambeth Palace, as well as some lesser known gems like the Cinema Museum and Vauxhall City Farm.

We’re an inner London borough but we have plenty of greenery with areas like Clapham Common (one of London’s largest open spaces) and Brockwell Park. You can catch cricket matches at the Oval, try ice skating at our rink in Streatham, enjoy a workout at one of our leisure centres or take a dip in Brockwell Lido. We have a thriving nightlife too, with a host of bars, clubs, theatres, cinemas including the famous Electric Brixton on the doorstep of our offices.

Lambeth Council is based in our modern offices in the historic Lambeth Town Hall and newbuild Civic Centre which are both situated in the heart of Brixton, just a two-minute walk from the Underground Station.

The Victoria Tube line will take you directly through the Central London hubs of Victoria, Oxford Circus and King’s Cross whilst the Northern line passes through Stockwell and Clapham. Frequent overground train services run to and from Waterloo, and services from London Victoria, London Bridge and Blackfriars will take you to West Norwood and Streatham. The network of bus services will also take you to all corners of the borough and beyond.

“Lambeth – a borough with social and climate justice at its heart. By harnessing the power and pride of our people and partnerships, we will proactively tackle inequalities so that children and young people can have the best start in life and so everyone can feel safe and thrive in a place of opportunity.”

Lambeth 2030 (Borough Plan)

Our Children’s Social Care department is delivering against a bold ambition for Lambeth’s future, focusing on achieving the best possible outcomes for our children and young people. We are dedicated to creating the right conditions for social work practice to thrive to ensure the service we offer to children and families improves their lives.

In 2022, we relaunched our relational Practice Model – “Children at the Heart of Practice” which sets out our social work vision and values. Our approach consolidates and brings together these core methodologies and theories:

• Systemic Practice

• Strengthening Families

• Motivational Interviewing

• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

• Trauma-Informed Practice

Further to this, in 2023 we are launching our new Social Care Academy which will invest in social work entry-level initiatives such as the ASYE programme, Step up to Social Work and Frontline, as well as refreshing our career development framework for experienced social workers to provide a clear pathway from practitioner to social work manager or leader.

To achieve our Borough Plan objectives, Lambeth Children’s Services is also partnering with UNICEF to deliver our “Child Friendly Lambeth” borough-wide partnership programme which will see participation from the local authority, schools, community, local businesses, police, and others to put children’s rights at the heart of the agenda in Lambeth.

We consulted 1,500 children and young people, including many of our children looked after and care leavers, who told us our priorities for the programme should be “Safety and Security”, “Place”, and “Child Friendly Services”. These themes will be key areas of focus for us as we strive to improve our services for children and families.

• Hybrid and flexible working

• Competitive salary packages for roles

• Manageable caseloads – at April 2023 the average Social Worker caseload by service area: Child Protection (13), Court (13), Children Looked After (11)

• 27 days annual leave (rising to 32 days after 5 years continuous service and 35 days after 10 years continuous service)

• Flexi-leave and TOIL available to staff

• Work in one of the best-connected boroughs in London, with travel links that can quickly get you all around London, the South-East and beyond

• A modern working environment in the Lambeth Civic Centre, recently redesigned optimising the space for post-pandemic flexible working

• Training and development opportunities tailored around our practice framework

• A clear career progression pathway into Advanced Practitioner and social work management positions

• Reflective Practice Groups

• Local Government Pension Scheme, Cyclescheme and interest free travel loan

• Investment in learning and development and career pathways as part of the new Lambeth Social Care Academy

• Smart technology including tablet device rollout for practitioners and hybrid video conferencing in the office

Hear from some of our young people on why they think Lambeth is the best place to grow up and live!

To apply for our roles, please visit the Lambeth Council jobs page.

To find out more about our offer to social workers, visit our dedicated Children’s Social Care microsite.

If you would like to speak to a senior manager or hiring manager, please contact us at CSCRecruitment@lambeth.gov.uk