SOME Dorset families are already struggling financially more than they previously were  – according to children’s services executive director Theresa Leavy.

She said that her staff were already stepping up to meet the challenge with extra activities being planned for school holidays and urging those in difficulties to claim what they were entitled to, including free school meals and the Healthy Start programme.

“We know there is more to do and we are looking at other ways of supporting families, and our staff,” said the director.

She was responding to question from Dorchester councillor, Stella Jones, who with wide experience as a former teacher and working with a family organisation, said it was evident that many problems within families were linked to money problems.

Read more: Piddle Valley First School plant dozens of trees for Ukraine

She said that with rising prices she feared there would very soon be more problems for family social workers to deal with.

Cllr Jones said she also worried about the pressure this would put on social workers and other family support staff: “Do we have the capacity to take on staff quickly? I don’t want them doubling up on work,” she told an overview and scrutiny committee.

Ms Leavy said that the county had invested in early help for children and recognised that, often, it needed to get involved with families at an even earlier stage.

Read more: Dorset Gliding Club welcome Ukrainian refugee in style with free flight

She said that currently most of the department’s social workers had a case load of 15 families, some in the low 20s and that, unlike some neighbouring councils, was not currently experiencing difficulties with staff retention or recruitment.

Cllr Molly Rennie raised similar concerns for staff later in the meeting over the additional pressures social workers and other council officers would have in supporting Ukraine refugees – with more than 500 eventually expected in the county.

She was told by the director overseeing the work, Claire Shiels, that so far staff were coping with the extra demand and that plans had been made for the future as demand increased.