With the requirement for temporary workers being at an all-time high, we wanted to delve into how the public sector is handling staffing their workforce.

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing our findings and identifying any key areas for you to be aware of. Our first area to cover is local authorities.

Official statistics released by the government for 2021 show the number of children’s and family social workers leaving the sector during the year was at its highest for five years. The figure, which stood at 4,995, was a 19 per cent increase on 2020, demonstrating a worrying trend for those trying to balance the workforce.

This has an impact on the number of cases each social worker must take on, as well as a greater reliance on agency workers. While a flexible workforce recruited from agencies can be an effective way to ensure continuity of service, it’s vital costs don’t spiral out of control to the detriment of the public sector.

Social worker attrition

There are three types of social worker attrition:

• Employees who move into a different social worker role, but are still employed by a local authority.
• Individuals that decide to work for an agency and therefore work for the local authority but not directly.
• Social workers who no longer carry out roles for the local authority either directly or through an agency.

While resources are not lost in the first type of attrition, as talented social workers move around the local authority, the other two scenarios have an impact on the day-to-day functioning of the sector. In 2021, the attrition rate into agency stood at 2.6 per cent, while full attrition was reported to be 8.6 per cent.

Agency workforce

So, why are so many social workers choosing to leave permanent roles in favour of working for an agency? The main benefit of working this way has always been flexibility, but in the current financial climate, it also makes increasing sense in terms of takeaway pay. This can have a huge impact on the public sector, so a balance needs to be achieved that works for all parties involved.

The number of social workers tempted to take advantage of the agency model was 5,977 FTE in September 2021, representing a three per cent uptick on the previous year. This makes understanding, anticipating and managing the temporary workforce more important than ever. It also means that, when relying on agency staff, it’s essential to work with suppliers that are not only cost-efficient but transparent in their supply chains.

Keeping caseloads stable

Despite attrition, social workers’ caseloads have remained relatively stable at 16.3 cases per employee, which is comparable to 2019 when the average was 16.9 per FTE. Agency staff have contributed to this stability and are likely to be relied upon even more heavily as Ofsted warns of an increased need for staff going forward, as the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic continues. Combine this with the cost of living crisis and demand is likely to be exacerbated further.

Amanda Spielman, chief inspector at Ofsted, said: “Children’s social care has been plagued by workforce challenges for some time. But we have seen these issues accelerate in recent years, with more social workers moving to agency contracts, and residential workers leaving the sector entirely.”

If you would like to discuss your workforce concerns with us, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.