Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Children’s Services which was presented to provide information on the following:-

·        The social work staffing pressures being experienced in children’s social services;

·        What is being done to manage these pressures;

·        Comparisons of social work pay scales across Wales in particular Gwent;

·        Additional incentives offered to Blaenau Gwent social workers.

The Head of Children’s Services spoke to the report and highlighted the main points contained therein.

In response to a Member’s question regarding promoting health and social care as an area of work in schools and colleges, the Head of Children’s Services informed Members that pre-pandemic they had visited schools and attended open days at universities to promote the benefits of working for Blaenau Gwent Social Care and would be doing this again when Covid restrictions allow.  The Corporate Director of Social Services said they had been working with colleges across Gwent including University of South Wales to develop opportunities for placements within social care to try and attract students into the sector.  They had been concentrating on domiciliary care and residential care as that was often a precursor to people developing an interest in working in social care.

With regard to the comparison of wages, the Head of Children’s Services said this was kept under review but there was a concern that if one Authority raised their wage offer then other authorities may follow which could inadvertently lead to social workers moving from one Authority to another disrupting their relationship with the children and families they support.  The Corporate Director of Social Services said this was a national issue and felt that a national solution was needed, and as the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) there was support for a national pay scale and they had also been pushing the Welsh Government for the introduction of bursaries for social workers, similar to that of nurses, to create parity between health and social care and to give some incentive to social workers to undertake the role.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 1; namely that Members scrutinised the report on social worker vacancy rates in children’s services, pay and incentives and contributed to the continuous assessment of the effectiveness of the directorate.