The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Home to over 209,639 people, Sutton is a London borough increasing in popularity.
Sutton combines a high quality of life, green and spacious, with distinctive town centres providing access to jobs and culture the capital has to offer. This is mainly thanks to our award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools (we are one of the highest performing education authorities in the country). As a result our population growth was the 7th highest in London over the last decade (according to the latest Census data).
Sutton also is home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research - with plans to create the world’s second biggest cancer research campus. The London Cancer Hub is set to create 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year.
Once complete, The London Cancer Hub will be the world’s leading life-science district specialising in cancer research and treatment, and will create a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies, intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth.
In 2020, Sutton was a recipient of a prestigious Cultural Impact Award from The Mayor of London. Sutton achieved the sought after prize with a proposal exploring science through art and culture. The year-long programme, taking place throughout 2023, will see a host of cultural activity taking place with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths) at its core.
Our ambition is to develop and deliver outstanding services that will achieve the best outcomes for all of our children and for those most vulnerable, including children in need and those looked after.. We recognise the impact of trauma in families and as such provide training to our staff, to develop the skills to work in a trauma informed way. Our training and development offer is described as very good, ( LGA Workforce Survey 2022) with one of our priorities being ‘developing our workforce’.
We focus on strengthening relationships with children within families and partners to enable us to realise our ambition for improved outcomes for our children and young people.
Ofsted rated us as ‘Good’ with Outstanding for Leadership in December 2021. However, we have not rested but continue to strive to do more for families, strengthen practice and bring innovative ways of working across our systems.
We have committed to a Restorative Practice approach in the way we work with children and families and this is reflected in the way we work with each other and our internal and external partners.
We are striving to embed a restorative culture in Sutton Children's Services- a culture that promotes respecting and listening to everyone's views... that encourages empowerment and co-production.
We believe working restoratively with our children and families means:
listening to our children/families needs and wishes
child/family-led plans
using restorative processes like Family Group Conferences and mediation to strengthen and rebuild family relationships and support children to remain with their families
being respectful, open and honest in our communication with children and their families
We want Sutton to be a Beacon of Excellence in Children’s Social Care and nationally recognised as an example of best practice:
Working to continue to grow, adapt, innovate and improve
Partnering with local schools, colleges and organisations
Continuing to invest in workforce development and quality assurance
Ensuring that we continue to learn from families and children
Using evidence based research to strengthen social work practice
We pride ourselves on being a diverse, enterprising and people-focused local authority. We are ambitious and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve.
We are committed to being an inclusive employer that celebrates and values the diversity of our workplace and borough. A place where you can be your best self at work.
Our partnerships are strong and our staff cultivate and develop positive relationships across the Council, with external partners and with other stakeholders including the health, education, police and voluntary and community sectors. We know that we provide a better service when we collaborate and challenge ourselves to be the best we can be.
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
Comprehensive learning and development programme
Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
Interest free season ticket loans
Local Government Pension Scheme
Car parking scheme
Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
Zip car scheme
Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
Subsidised gym membership
Interested in working for us? Hear from our staff below on why they think Sutton is a great place to be a Social Worker.
If you are interested in having an informal discussion about working in children's social care at Sutton please contact recruitment@sutton.gov.uk