Agenda item

To consider a report of the Director of Adult Social Care.

The purpose of this plan is to provide a framework for a robust highly functioning and fully staffed social care workforce, that achieves a regulatory standards to meet the needs of people with care and support needs in Stockport. Our locality social care highly skilled workforce should be appropriately mobilised, trained and prepared and drive the delivery of good quality services for local people.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to comment on and note the report.

Officer contact: Sarah Morgan on 07800618926 or email: sarah.morgan@stockport.gov.uk

The Director of Adult Social Care submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided a framework for a robust highly functioning and fully staffed social care workforce, that achieves a regulatory standards to meet the needs of people with care and support needs in Stockport.

The Cabinet Member for Health & Adult Social Care (Councillor Keith Holloway) attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         In relation to a query around the total staffing numbers and vacancy rate, it was stated that the vacancy rate in relation to the provider market was around 25% and at quarter 2, there were 22 social worker vacancies out of 166 full-time equivalent posts in Stockport. It was commented that the creative recruitment campaign on social media aimed to promote Stockport as a great place to live and work to attract talent to work at Stockport Council.

·         In response to a query around why people chose agency work, it was commented that pay was a main driver for people choosing agency work without looking at the benefits of full-time working and working for the council. In addition, some agency staff had cited flexibility around where and when they work as a reason for opting for agency work.

·         It was queried how the council could better meet staff needs for those considering agency work.

·         In response, it was commented that the council had a strong flexible working programme across the whole organisation within the One Team People Plan which offers flexible hours and looks at services that may offer additional flexibility. It was noted that when the service had an agency worker, there would be a conversation around what it would look like if they worked for the council, what their needs were and what the service needs were to find a balance to ensure service deliverability. However, the majority of answers came down to pay and the freedom of not having a contract and being able to end that contract in a short period of time.

·         Members welcomed the report and the efforts that were being made to strengthen the workforce.

·         It was queried whether stress was a factor in staff turnover and vacancy rates.

·         In response, it was stated that there was a wide offer from a corporate and local, adult social care perspective around wellbeing including resilience and managing pressures. There was also work underway to support leaders and managers to ensure good, supportive supervision was in place to ensure people stay in their roles once they join the council.   

·         It was queried whether a pay review or temporary market supplement could be considered to support retention and recruitment.

·         In response, it was noted that there was risk, if the strategy and proposals contained were not implemented, as it could escalate costs in adult social care through the use of agency staff. It was commented that there was an exercise underway around the use of agency staff versus pay grading for staff in comparison to Greater Manchester. It was noted that, from the staff survey results, people value a high support team and the service were working to reduce processes and red tape to ensure maximise people’s opportunity to spend more time with the people they serve.

·         Additional information was requested in relation to the overall job market position of adult social care and plans for the future workforce, noting that the number of individuals due to retire outweighed the number of people joining the profession.

·         In response, it was stated that the national picture around social care was a real challenge and there had been an increase in demand for social workers by around 6.7% since 2011 which had created a wider chasm around recruitment. It was noted that some people that had previously worked as home support workers in home care and provider services, were opting for roles within retail or hospitality which may be linked to the perception around these roles. It was commented that work was ongoing with schools and colleges around apprenticeships, work experience and roles available including the academy of living well to start those conversations early and make social care a sector that people want to work in.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.