£23m of extra funding has been pledged to finance front-line social work, announced children's secretary Ed Balls earlier this week.

The announcement was made in advance of a report released that same day on funding for children's social care, authored by Sir Roger Singleton, the independent Chief Adviser for the Safety of Children. This report highlighted that funding was an "area of concern" for social work and social care, as a rise in demand has placed increased pressure on front line services.

In his report, Sir Roger praised the efforts of the professionals in social work jobs "who protect thousands of children each year" but noted that such "excellent work....is not yet universal."

"Going forward, we need to focus on securing adequate resources, learning from serious case reviews, improving professional practice and working more closely with all the relevant parties to keep children safe."

Ed Balls said that the £23m will be part of a social improvement fund aimed at reducing the increased pressure on social workers, adding that an additional £15m will be used to improve IT systems. Local authorities will be able to decide how to spend the extra money.

In his announcement, Mr Balls responded to concerns over 5,000 vacancies in children's social work in England by pointing to 50,000 enquiries made since last September by people interested in becoming qualified social workers.

"I think that when people look at the progress we have made they will agree that we are in a much better place than we were," said the Children's Secretary. "There is still a long way to go."