The case studies under this theme describe successful approaches to recruitment, retention, reducing agency spending and developing social care career pathways.
Recruitment and retention of staff in adult and children’s social care is a longstanding and significant challenge for local authorities across the country. Vacancies in adult and children’s social care continue to be far higher than the national vacancy rate. Challenges in recruitment and retention lead to negative outcomes for councils and those who draw on social care. A reliance on costly agency staff drives expenditure when there is no money to spare. High turnover rates mean that it can be difficult to build personal connections between carers and the people for whom they care. Without the right staff in the right place at the right time, there can be delays in accessing services, leading to poorer outcomes for people and increased expenditure for councils. In Managing rising demand for adult and children’s social care, CIPFA showed how councils are supporting their local care market by developing the social care workforce in their area.
Central Bedfordshire Council: a workforce strategy to meet rising requests for support and reduce agency spend
Central Bedfordshire Council’s case study explores how the council overcame challenges in its adult social care workforce, particularly around the number and length of vacancies and the capacity of the workforce to meet increases in requests for care and support.
Halton Borough Council: grown your own skilled workforce
Halton Borough Council’s case study tells of the challenges in recruitment that the council has experienced, leading to gaps in provision and increased agency spend. To tackle this, Halton developed their social work career progression offer and carried out a job evaluation. A strong student offer in collaboration with local universities has fostered the development of the local workforce. As a result, unqualified social workers have seen their pay increase, apprenticeship programmes have been expanded, and the majority of qualified council adult social care staff members have come through Halton’s ‘grow your own’ pathway.
