Invitees

Deborah McMillan, Corporate Director - Children

Cllr Huw David, Cabinet Member Children & Young People

Colin Turner, Head of Safeguarding and Family Support

Susan Cooper, Corporate Director – Wellbeing

Debra Beeke, Workforce Development Manager

The Head of Safeguarding and Family Support presented a report to update the Committee on work being undertaken in relation to the recruitment and retention of Social Workers, and the actions undertaken and planned to address these issues.He commented that his team were pleased at the interest the Committee had taken in their work over the years.

     He advised that the biggest resource in the Directorate were the staff and it was important that they had the competence and confidence to carry out their various roles.  Recruiting and retaining qualified Social Workers was a constant feature over the past five years.  He explained that the fundamental issue was that most of the Social Workers are in their first or second year post qualifying, which brought about challenges in supporting them in a highly emotionally charged environment.  He explained that the Directorate worked closely to engage with the other Directorates in getting proactive to address the recruitment and retention challenges.

     The Committee asked whether internal training programmes continued for new Social Workers.

         The Workforce Development Manager advised that the existing Social Care Workers could apply to access the Social Work Trainee position, which replaced the former secondment scheme which had run for many years; however, Managers felt that it was difficult to continue to support this programme, as it would involve those seconded to under social work training to attend two days a week in College and placements in addition to this, with the remaining team members having to manage the workload.  This year the Directorate had embarked on a traineeship programme whereby 213 applications were received for just one position.  The benefit of doing it this way dedicated training is provided during the period of employment, with opportunities to move around different service areas.  Bids will be made to access external funding to enhance that programme further.

         The Committee commented on the retention of Social Workers in that there did not appear to be a breakthrough in solving the problem.  The Committee further asked why the Children’s Social Worker post was treated in the same way as other Social Workers, as there did not seem to be any recognition.

         The Workforce Development Manager explained that there were different pay scales across the 22 local authorities in Wales for Social Workers and information gained from exit interviews suggested that this was not the reason provided on why Social Workers were leaving the Authority.  There was financial recognition paid to them, after two years’ experience, recognising that they are able to work at a higher level and are given more diverse and challenging caseloads.

         The Committee asked whether the new arrangements for flexible working hours had affected Social Workers, and if they were provided with administrative assistance so that they were not tied down with paperwork.

         The Head of Safeguarding and Family Support advised that there had been some negative feedback from Social Workers on the flexible working hours scheme, as they had lost the ability to have two days off per month.  However, they have now all been issued with their own laptop and would be able to work from home. 

         Conclusions:

1.         Members complimented the new induction programme for newly qualified social workers but expressed the need to ensure that all accessed this programme in order that they are protected in their first year in practice and thus encourage them to remain with the authority.

2.         Members commented on some of the issues expressed by social workers including the time taken on paperwork and asked that consideration be given to whether there is capacity for providing more admin assistance to social workers.

3.         Some Members expressed concerns over management issues, in particular, the need for better communication between managers and practitioners.  This was evident from the lack of engagement with the Exit Interview process as well as some of the comments expressed by Officers which inferred that the consultation process in regard to re organising the service had not always been sufficient.  Members commented that re organisation, poor due process and consultation arrangements have caused a few issues in this service and will no doubt have had an impact on the retention of Social Workers.

Members, however, noted the comments made by the Head of Safeguarding and Family Support regarding recent improvements; accommodation issues addressed, caseloads being of a reasonable number, regular newsletters to staff and regular meetings with staff.  As a result, the Committee:

a)        Complimented these efforts and encouraged their continuation;

b)        Stressed that any future re-organisation would need to include a better consultation of the workforce;

c)        Proposed that the Exit Interview process be reviewed to try and achieve a higher response rate.

4.         Members welcomed the new Social Worker Traineeship that had been introduced and recommended that this be expanded, increasing the number of traineeships with a loyalty clause that they are contracted to the local authority for two years following their training.

5.         The Committee asked the Scrutiny Officer to explore whether further information could be presented to the Committee in relation to the Council’s flexible working policy and how it relates to social workers.

Recommendation:

The Committee recommends that Chief Officers and Cabinet Members engage-with and lobby Welsh Government, WLGA/ADSS and CCW to achieve systemic changes in the following areas:

·                A standardised set of salary scales and conditions in line with the systems used for teachers for all social workers in Wales to ensure a 'no-poaching' approach, similar to that which is being introduced for foster carers whereby payments are harmonised across local authorities.

·                Place a duty on all Welsh local authorities to provide adequate practice placement opportunities for students going into children's safeguarding to better prepare them for their future career and also compel all authorities to provide a proportionate number of training placements.