Agenda item

This report provides the Committee with an update on activity in relation to the recruitment and retention of children and young people social workers.

Councillor Grahl Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools, introduced a report from the Corporate Director of Children and Young People that provided the Committee with an update following the decision taken in November 2022 to increase the recruitment and retention payments to staff in the hardest to recruit teams within the Looked After Children and Permanency (LAC and Permanency) Service.  The report also provided further information regarding the current position in relation to social work staff within the Children and Young People’s department overall, this included the proposals developed following a review of incentive packages designed to reduce the complexity of the existing arrangements and improve recruitment and retention outcomes for social worker staff across all grades and teams based on the current arrangements detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

In recognising the current challenges nationally and regionally in terms of the recruitment and retention of suitably qualified social work staff, Nigel Chapman, Corporate Director, Children & Young People advised the Committee that the proposals outlined within the report had been designed to maintain and increase the number of permanent staff in social work roles across the department as well as to reduce the gaps between grades and reduce agency costs.

In considering the report the Committee noted:

·             The update provided in relation to the impact of the previously agreed recruitment and retention measures, as detailed in section 4 of the report, which whilst having a positive impact it was recognised would still need time to fully assess in terms of their overall effectiveness and with additional action still required to enhance the number of permanent staff in social work roles across the department;

·             The clarification provided in relation to the eligibility of internationally recruited staff for the welcome incentive and retention payments, with these staff able to benefit from the relocation support payment available and also eligible for the retention payment following the relevant qualifying period.

As there were no further Committee queries in relation to the report, the Committee RESOLVED to:

(1)        Agree to extend the use of two recruitment and retention initiatives, to all teams within the department, as follows:

Ø    To make a one-off payment of £5,000 to newly recruited permanent qualified social work staff on grades PO1 – PO7, on satisfactory completion of probationary period and repayable where an employee leaves the council’s employment within 12 months of receiving the payment.

Ø    To make retention payments of £2,500 to all qualified social work staff on grades PO1 to PO7.

(2)        Agree to retain the enhanced retention payment of £4,500 per annum for those teams where it was particularly hard to recruit and retain qualified social work staff i.e., the Short and Long Term Teams in the Localities Service and the Care Planning Teams in the LAC and Permanency Service (as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report).

(3)        That continued discretion be provided to the department in how recruitment and retention payments are offered across the department with a continued focus on hard to recruit to posts.