Sally Anne Kelly: "Status of the work"

Glasgow City Council said it currently has 40 vacancies for social workers dealing with children and families.

Senior social worker, Sally Anne Kelly, said every service across Scotland recognised the difficulty in attracting qualified people.

She said: "Part of that is about the stress that comes with the job but another part, I think, has to be about the status of the work that we do and how this is viewed nationally.

"Certainly something like the McCrone Commission (teacher review body) for social work would be helpful in terms of a move towards the professionalism of the service."

Ms Kelly's view that the profession suffered from an image problem was echoed by Kingsley Thomas of Edinburgh City Council.

'Negative images'

He said: "It's a difficult job working under very difficult circumstances and these circumstances have probably got harder in recent years.

"The old clich� about social work and 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' either interfering or not acting quickly enough are still there and we need to tackle these perceptions and we need to tackle these negative images."

Last month The Scottish National Party called for a radical review of social workers' pay to solve a growing crisis in the profession.

The party claims vulnerable children are being let down because more than three quarters of councils are unable to fill social work vacancies.