A MAJOR review of pay and benefits for social workers to help stem a crisis in recruitment as highly skilled staff quit in Devon has been ordered.

A Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Children’s Social Work is being drawn up to provide a transparent framework for staff to broaden the recruitment profile and to set out the offer to new and existing staff.

It comes as County Hall bosses revealed they are increasingly reliant on more expensive social workers from agencies which can cost as much as £23,700 a year more than if employed direct by the county council.

In a report that went before Devon County Council’s children’s scrutiny committee on Tuesday morning, it was stated that it can cost £71,800 to employ an agency social worker compared to £48,000 for its own permanent staff.

Councillors were told that a ‘fully costed’ business case will be completed this month ahead of next year’s budget being prepared, and they agreed to undertake a spotlight review of the issue to look at the way to retain and recruit more staff.

The turnover of social workers in Devon is expected to be considerably higher this year than the average 17.7 per cent, which itself is above the rate of 15.7 per cent, for England between 2015 and last year, while the meeting heard that in some parts of the county around East Devon and Mid Devon, nearly 35 per cent of all social worker staff are agency staff.

In the report to the meeting, the Acting Head of Children’s Social Care, Rachel Gillott, said: ‘Devon County Council needs to address both the impact of the shortage of qualified social workers and the effect of local influences on recruitment and retention.

‘The use of agency workers impacts on the budget. An agency worker on average costs £23,732 per annum more than a permanent worker. (£71,807 compared with £48,075 per year).

‘Staff, understandably, become disillusioned when there are high numbers of agency workers being paid at significantly higher rates than the permanent staff.

‘An embargo is in place for social workers who become agency colleagues in that they are not allowed to work for Devon for a year after their permanent employment ends.

‘There is competition between neighbouring local authorities for permanent qualified staff where variations in terms and conditions add to recruitment and retention difficulties, and the South Devon locality particularly loses social workers and managers to Torbay, Plymouth and Cornwall due to their attractive packages. Devon is not currently competitive with our neighbours.’

The approach in Devon since 2013 has been ‘grow your own’, resulting in the development of the Social Work Academy and a well-respected programme for newly qualified staff, but this is not matched by a clearly mapped career progression route, the meeting heard, and that while Devon was keeping pace with recruitment, the figures mask the fact that they are not replacing ‘like with like’ in terms of experience.

The report added: ‘Devon County Council needs to become a more attractive option for social workers. We are developing a fully costed business case, as part of the preparations for the 2021 budget, which will clearly set out (on an invest to save basis) proposals to boost and sustain our social work workforce.

‘The Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Children’s Social Work will provide a transparent framework for staff to broaden our recruitment profile, to set out our offer to new and existing staff. This will incorporate recruitment career pathways, accredited courses including the development of social work apprenticeships and fully exploiting all routes to qualification and employment as a social worker.

‘The strategy will align Devon’s Children’s Services career pathway to a nationally recognised framework and will also offer some unification with Devon’s Adult Services. The career pathway will clearly mark the transition between newly qualified social worker, social worker and experienced social worker.’

Cllr Alan Connett, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, said that the report showed that Devon was tackling a crisis of their own making in being out-paid and out- smarted by other councils who are better at attracting and retaining professional social workers.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, he said: ‘Just seven years ago, after another Ofsted review, Devon had its last major recruitment and retention difficulty. Its answer then was to offer financial incentives of thousands of pounds to Social Workers to join the council and stay with it.

‘However, it’s now said the payments of £1,000 to join the council and £2,000 to stay with it didn’t work, or in County Hall speak ‘neither of these measures had an appreciable long-term impact’. What surprises me is that the council must have been aware of these issues and it’s now, in 2020, when it has failed again, that it is looking at getting the chequebook out once more.

‘Devon’s investment in ‘grow your own’ social worker talent, which we have welcomed simply has not been capitalised on. Now, Devon is scrambling around yet again to catch up with other local councils, rather than leading the way to attract and retain professional social workers.’

Answering questions as to why social workers have been leaving, senior manager for Workforce Development Andrea Morris, said it wasn’t just one reason it could be put down to.

She said: ‘There is a market for agency staff, and there is a financial benefit in the short term for taking agency work which may be attractive.’

The committee agreed to note the rationale and proposals for aligning Devon Children’s Services against the national framework for career progression and the case for improving the offer to social workers.

‘This is to stabilise and value our workforce and promote better outcomes for children and young people and these measures will help us to be able to meet our statutory obligations to children and families and will promote the development of a skilled and effective workforce,’ the report added.