Designated Social Care Officer

Organisation:

Leicestershire County Council

Coalville Social Care, 3 High St, Coalville LE67 3EA

£43,860 - £47,829 per annum (pro rata for part time)

37 hours per week

Permanent

22nd March 2026

TBC

Are you passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)? Do you want to play a key role in strengthening how Education, Health and Social Care work together across Leicestershire?

If so, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

Leicestershire Children’s Disability Service is seeking a Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO) at Senior Social Work Practitioner level to support the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Service.

In this pivotal role, you will provide expert social care advice to support:

• Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
• Annual Reviews
• Ongoing improvement work linked to the SEN Annual Review Programme
• Strategic developments underpinning Every Child Achieving and Thriving White Paper
• The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

You will be at the heart of connecting Social Care, Education SEND, and Health, ensuring that children and young people receive high‑quality, coordinated support that helps them thrive and achieve their aspirations.

• Provide consistent, high‑quality social care advice for EHCP processes
• Support timely and effective Annual Reviews
• Offer training and awareness‑raising across Children’s Services
• Contribute to service improvements and strategic SEND developments
• Ensure children’s voices and needs are central to planning
• Work collaboratively across Education, Health and Social Care
• Attend weekly SENA Case Decision Panels, with access to Mosaic and Synergy to provide advice on social care issues in a case‑by‑case basis
• Oversee Tribunal work within Social Care, ensuring relevant staff are briefed, that the local authority position is clear, that any funding issues are resolved prior to Tribunal (including referral to JSP where needed)
• Produce periodic reports for Senior Management Team on such things as the quality and timeliness of social care advice, tribunal outcomes, joint funding issues, training provided and any other relevant matters
• To model good social work practice and encourage continuing professional development of colleagues via coaching, joint working and contributing to the development and delivery of training

An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex‑offenders, please see our policy statement.

To apply for this post, you must:

• Appropriate social work professional qualifications such as MA, DipSW CQSW or equivalent, and evidence of continuing professional development
• Experience working within or alongside SEN services and health partners.
• A strong understanding of the needs of children with disabilities, complex health needs and/or SEND and their families.
• The ability to deliver high‑quality, child‑centred social care advice within statutory frameworks and extensive knowledge of a range of relevant theories, research, serious case review findings and models of social work interventions and how these can be integrated into service delivery to enhance outcomes for children.
• Excellent communication skills, with confidence in drafting clear written advice, presenting information and delivering training (online and face‑to‑face).
• The ability to form effective working relationships with key partners, young people and families, with a commitment to contributing to strategic developments that improve outcomes across the SEND system.
• You will be part of a supportive, ambitious service that is committed to delivering excellence for children with disabilities. This role offers a unique opportunity to influence how SEND services work together locally and to help shape improved outcomes for children and families across Leicestershire. We are committed to becoming a trauma‑informed service where we believe “we are stronger together.” This means understanding trauma, recognising how…