Agenda item

To provide a further update to the Committee on the impact of the decision in October 2018, to introduce recruitment and retention initiatives to key social work roles within the Children and Young People’s (CYP) department. The report also provides information about the current position regarding social work staff retention within the department.

Nigel Chapman (Operational Director Integration & Improved Outcomes) introduced a report providing the Committee with an update on the impact on the decision taken in October 2018 to introduce recruitment and retention initiatives for key social work roles within the Children and Young People (CYP) department.  In addition, the report detailed the current position regarding social work staff retention within the department, with particular reference to current challenges for frontline child protection social work recruitment and retention in the Localities Service, along with a proposed amended approach in order to address the issues identified.

Members noted the updated benchmarking details, set out within section 3.3 of the report, along with the importance of Brent remaining competitive in the market place for good quality staff in order to provide stability across the service and in seeking to reduce the reliance on agency staff.

In welcoming the positive improvements that had been made in terms of the recruitment and retention of staff since the introduction of the current initiatives, as detailed in section 4 of the report, members also recognised the ongoing challenges particularly within the Localities Service.  Members were therefore supportive of the proposed amendments recommended to current initiatives based on an increase in the one-off payment to newly recruited permanent social work staff and retention payments for all permanent qualified social work staff on grades PO1-PO7 in the most hard to recruit teams within the Localities service.

Having welcomed the progress being made, it was RESOLVED:

(1)        To amend two of the current recruitment and retention initiatives until the end of the 2022/23 financial year, with arrangements being reviewed again in late 2022 as follows:

·             To increase the one-off payment to newly recruited permanent social work staff on grades PO1-PO7 in the most hard to recruit to teams within the Localities service (Referral and Assessment teams, East and West long-term teams) from £5000 to £7500, on satisfactory completion of a probationary period; and

·             To increase retention payments in the hard to recruit to social work teams in the Localities service, for all qualified social work staff graded PO1-PO7, from £1200 to £4500 per annum.

(2)        To agree that other previously agreed recruitment and retention initiatives be maintained as follows:

·             To continue the one-off payment of £5000 to newly recruited permanent social work managers, practice consultants and senior social workers in all other eligible teams, on satisfactory completion of a probationary period.

·             To continue retention payment of £3600 to all other eligible qualified social work managers and social work practice consultant posts, payable after 36 months in role and on a recurring 36-month cycle. Senior social workers currently receive a retention payment. To continue the existing market supplement (retention payment) of £1,200 per annum to all other qualified social work eligible roles.

·             To allow the department the discretion to provide relocation package support to key posts, up to a maximum of £5,000 in individual cases together with any COVID related costs associated with the recruitment of overseas social workers.

·             To continue the opportunity for all qualified social workers within the remit of the scheme to rent key worker housing.

(3)    To continue with the delegation of authority to the Strategic Director, Children & Young People, in consultation and regular review with the Director of Legal, HR and Audit and Investigations, to determine how recruitment and retention payments were offered across the department, with a continued focus on hard to recruit to posts.