Minutes:
Simon Broad, Head of Adult Safeguarding and Learning Disabilities, provided Members with an update on the use of agency staff within the Wellbeing Directorate.
Mr Broad confirmed that while several departments had seen a reduction in their use of agency workers, the numbers of agency staff within Wellbeing remained high. The majority of these were social care staff, including qualified staff (social workers, therapists etc.) and non-qualified staff (drivers, escorts etc.)
With regard to non-qualified staff, a number of vacant positions were being deliberately retained whilst a staff rationalisation exercise was undertaken, the aim of which was to rationalise staff members under 1 manager, within 1 team. It was expected that this would save £325K annually. The agency workers were therefore required to ensure service continuity whilst this exercise was undertaken.
For qualified staff, it was recognised that there was a national shortage of people to fill roles that required skill and experience, such as social workers. Slough was competing in a challenging marketplace to attract these staff members, though one of the key incentives to attract the calibre of staff required was the unique challenges that Slough faced. Together with the attractiveness of the work, Slough was ensuring that market supplements and competitive pay packages were being offered to entice prospective employees to choose to work in Slough.
Members asked a number of questions, including:
With the implementation of the new Crossrail project and Slough’s proximity to London, what was Slough doing to compete for permanent staff that could choose to work at a London Authority instead?
Slough was endeavouring to think creatively to ensure high quality staff were choosing to work for Slough Borough Council. This included the measures discussed earlier, such as competitive salaries, but for social care workers salary was often only one consideration, and often not the most important. It was expected that the unique challenges that working in Slough presented would entice quality staff to seek employment here.
How great was the case load of social care staff?
Often case loads per staff member totalled 200, however, it was important to assess the complexity of those cases. For example, it could be expected that of those 200 cases, only 5 would need weekly contact, and perhaps only 1 would need daily contact. Non qualified staff could be used for those cases with low needs, whilst qualified staff could be used for cases of high need. The most important factor was to ensure cases were dealt with in a timely and proactive manner by the appropriate case officer, to ensure quality of service.
Members thanked Mr Broad for his attendance to the meeting, and noted his verbal update.