Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Director of Children’s Services

The Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2) received a Briefing Note of the Director of Children’s Services that informed Members of the  current progress in the recruitment of Newly Qualified Social Workers and the challenges of recruiting and retaining Experienced Children and Families Social Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The recruitment and retention of experienced frontline Children and Families Social Workers was a challenge facing all local authorities across the country. The most recent DFE Social Workforce Data 2019 indicated an acute shortage of Experienced Children and Families Social Workers, particularly those three years post qualified. The operating environment for the recruitment of experienced social workers had become increasingly challenging since the pandemic.

Childrens Services had worked extensively to ensure that the recruitment and retention of Children and Families Social Workers was a key strategic and operational priority. This was driven by a comprehensive Children’s Services Workforce Development Strategy 2020/21, overseen by the Director of Children’s Services. The Strategy supported and improved the recruitment and retention of social workers, and children’s services practitioners by developing the training and development offer, focusing on improving the capability of staff to engage children, young people and families by enabling them to assess, make judgements, decisions and  ‘hold risk’ whilst creating solutions with families and  multi-agency partners, and had delivered a number of key initiatives.

The Briefing Note provided details of the Impact of Covid-19 on Recruitment and Retention of Social Workers, the Recruitment Campaign to Recruit Experienced Social Workers, the Coventry Social Work Academy, Childrens Services Social Work Progression and Career Pathway, Childrens Services ‘Grow our own Social Work Schemes’, and Retention.

The service was experiencing significant pressure with the increase in demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and remained a very challenging operating environment. The service was reaching a level of work that was becoming very challenging, with caseloads increasing, a shortage of social workers and a high level of vacancies, which had resulted in increased numbers of agency staff, with an agency market that was shrinking. The system was under extreme pressure and all of this was leading to a budget pressure.

The Board questioned officers, received responses, and discussed the following issues:

·  Recruitment Campaigns to promote Coventry City Council Childrens Services as a first-choice destination for Social Workers to practice.

·  Social Work Academy - 58 Newly Qualified Social Workers commencing the Academy since July 2018. Propose to expand Academy.

·  A Social Work Progression and Career Pathway Framework

·  The ‘Grow our own Social Work Scheme’

·  Government campaign - supporting the current COVID-19 pandemic enabling social workers who had retired in the last two years to be fast tracked to apply to return to practice.

·  A learning and development offer that supported practitioners to continuously improve the services provided.

·  The impact of COVID on Children’s Services and the increase in caseload for Social Workers, including covering caseloads for isolating colleagues

·  Recruitment of Students through Early Helps Teams

·  Exit Interviews – monitor reasons for leaving the Service in Coventry to identify any emerging patterns

·  Social Work Degree Apprenticeships – 4 new Social Workers join the workforce in January 2021, 8 more in September 2021 and a further 10 would be qualified in 2022. Of 58 that entered the Scheme, 54 have remined in their role in Coventry.

·  The Hackney Model – not adopted by Local Authorities due to its lack of success at Stoke on Trent Council.

·  Future research to assess the full impact of the COVID pandemic on young people

RESOLVED that the Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2) notes the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Children’s Services recruitment and retention of experienced Children and Families Social Workers.