Social care agency staff spend for Greater Manchester tops £123m in THREE YEARS

Social care is a vital sector – providing services to families, young people, the elderly and people living with disabilities – and problems in the system have a knock-on effect for the NHS.

But councils are battling to fill hundreds of vacancies for adult and children social worker roles, and to recruit and retain carers.

A Freedom of Information request (FOI) submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) found out exactly how much each council in Greater Manchester has spent in three years to maintain their staffing levels in the social care sector – totalling £123,242,762. In their responses, detailed below, each council has described the steps they are taking to build a permanent workforce.

It’s difficult to quantify exactly how much more it costs to recruit social workers and carers from agencies than it would to employ people in-house.

But Greater Manchester’s town halls say they are keen to reduce their dependence on agency staff, with Oldham’s children services lead describing their use as ‘expensive’, and describing how a single agency social worker can cost “£20,000 in fees alone”.

Oldham, which is using innovative measures like £2,000 loyalty payments for staff who stay for two years – is calling on the government to “address the lack of funding that has contributed to this issue over a sustained period of time.”

Meanwhile, Bury Council told us that the recruitment and retention of both social workers and social care staff was a problem across the country – and that they were looking to South Africa for social workers. However Salford Council, which has its own Social Work Academy, says it has a “lower turnover rate” than peers, and is converting agency staff into permanent staff.

It is not known how many carer vacancies there are currently in Greater Manchester, with many on zero hours contracts. According to the most recent data from Skills for Care from 2021/2022 there are estimated to be 6,300 vacancies for care workers alone across GM. Nationally, the number of unfilled care worker posts is as high as 165,000 in the same time period.

In Greater Manchester specifically, the lowest paid care workers, as of April 2023, secured a 14.7 per cent pay to a minimum of £10.90 an hour.

But Unison, the union which represents thousands of people in the sector, argues that the ‘profit motive’ of agencies continues to suppress wages in the sector, leading to a high turnover of agency staff and affecting the quality of care.

In our Freedom of Information request, all ten of Greater Manchester’s authorities were asked how many adult and children’s social worker vacancies they currently had and how much they were spending on agency staff in both adult and children’s social care since 2020.

The answers from each council varied depending on population, staffing infrastructure and the age demographics. All councils spent significantly more on the children’s social care sector than adults – the data suggests. The total sum is likely to be higher than the headline figure as Bury council was not able to provide data for the full three year period.

At the time of responding, a total of 745 social worker vacancies were active in the region. All councils explained how they were trying their best to create systems and structures in order to get more permanent staff in and be able to keep them.

Back in November 2022, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced that all local authorities could raise council tax by five per cent – two per cent of which would go towards funding social care services. Most GM councils raised council tax by 4.99 per cent come the Spring budget, except for Bolton, Oldham and Stockport who decided on a 3.99 per cent rise.

All these councils capitalised on the two per cent to help better finance social care.

How much each council has paid out to care agencies on staffing since 2020 and their responses:

Bolton

Adult Social Care agency spend: £465,141

Children’s Social Care agency spend: £5,466,374

Number of social worker vacancies: 61

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “Our social workers provide an essential service to adults and children in our community, and like the majority of other councils we do use agencies in order to maintain the required level of staffing. Recruitment is a significant challenge facing the whole social care sector at a national level.

“We have a number of initiatives in place to boost recruitment and reduce our use of agencies. These include campaigns which highlight how rewarding and fulfilling a career in social work is, with opportunities to learn new skills and develop.”

Bury

Adult Social Care agency spend: £1,366,300

Children’s Social Care agency spend: £2,781,400

Number of social worker vacancies: 47

(Incomplete data – figures date between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023)

A spokesman for Bury Council said: “Bury, in common with districts across the country, has faced real challenges in recruiting and retaining social care staff and social workers. We have been taking a number of measures to address this, offering a range of incentives to come and work and live here.

“Another method we are using is overseas recruitment. This has already succeeded in our children’s services department, which has recently recruited a number of social workers from South Africa.

“In social care – we are playing the lead role in Greater Manchester in developing an international recruitment programme. Working closely with NHS GM ICB, each of the ten GM local authorities has signed up to access DHSC funding to boost recruitment of overseas workers into the social care sector.

“The GM delivery model, co-designed with local authority commissioners, workforce leads, and with independent sector providers, will include a GM-wide offer of manager training, employee guidance and pastoral support as well as access to training.

“A key component of the programme will be small grants for which care providers can apply, to support their own international recruitment efforts, and the programme team is working with safeguarding leads from across Greater Manchester to ensure ethical approaches to recruitment are promoted and maintained.”

Manchester

Adult and Children’s Social Care combined agency spend: £11,974,748.8

Number of social worker vacancies: 203

A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: “High levels of vacancies in the social care sector across both adult and children’s services are a concern for local authorities nationally and one that we’re working hard to address and avoid locally. Key to this is understanding the needs of staff whilst responding to and meeting both the increased demand for services and the growing complexity of needs.

“The pandemic and cost-of-living crisis also undoubtedly had a negative impact on staffing levels in the social care sector, and saw many social workers make lifestyle changes, leaving behind permanent roles and moving into better paid agency social work.

“In Manchester we’ve tried to be responsive and adapt to these changes and the needs of staff, reviewing our strategies and support offered to achieve consistency of pay across the sector locally, a better work-life balance, and manageable workloads – and through this to secure a stable, talented and confident workforce. We’re seeing some positive benefits from this and the situation has now stabilised.

“We’re determined to be an employer of choice and regularly review our recruitment strategies and retention packages to make sure they reach the widest audience of potential new recruits, and also that they are competitive in terms of what they offer. As a result, social care staff working for the council can expect high levels of support, training and skills’ development, and excellent career pathways, as well as a salary that compares favourably with market rates.

“We’d love to hear from anyone who is interested in a career in social care and would encourage them to go online and find out more at manchester.gov.uk/jobs ”

Oldham

Adult Social Care agency spend: £1,570,000

Children’s Social Care agency spend: £20,770,000

Number of social worker vacancies: 137.

Coun Shaid Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said: “Pressure on our social care services is rising. More people need support as a result of enduring poor health and other factors such as the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

“To provide the essential services our most vulnerable people need and rely on, we – like other councils – have had to use expensive agency staff. But we are doing all we can to recruit and retain more permanent social workers, and have put significant investment into this.

“We’ve benchmarked the starting salaries of new social workers; introduced a new loyalty payment of £2k for those social workers who work in Oldham for at least the next two years; launched a high-profile “Choose Oldham” recruitment campaign, and also ensure that our social workers have the very best opportunities for professional training and career progression.

“Last December we passed a motion at Full Council calling for either a ban or a quota on agency social workers. This is because in some cases a single agency worker can cost us £20,000 in agency fees alone.

“We would of course much rather this money went towards helping Oldhamers. Ultimately, the social care crisis is a national problem, and what is needed is a national response from the Government to address the lack of funding that has contributed to this issue over a sustained period of time.”

Rochdale

Adult Social Care agency spend: £1,710,000

Children’s Social Care agency spend: £10,304,000

Number of social worker vacancies: 64.5

A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council said: “Social workers play a crucial role in our Council, especially in safeguarding and protecting our children. Like many areas, we’re facing challenges due to the national shortage of social workers, and to address this, we’ve employed agency workers to fill the gaps.

“However, we’re actively striving to attract more social workers to join us, and we’ve seen increasing success in our efforts while ensuring we retain our existing colleagues. For our newly qualified social workers, we provide a bespoke training and support offer, enabling them to develop their skills and knowledge.

“At the same time, we greatly value the dedication and commitment of our experienced social workers, which is why we’ve implemented a new retention scheme to recognise their contributions. In our Council, we foster a supportive workplace where good social work practice can flourish.

“We understand the vital role social workers play in our community’s safety and wellbeing, particularly for our children, and we are committed to providing them with the resources and support they need to make a positive impact on the lives of those they serve.”

Salford

Adult Social Care agency spend: £1,633,583

Children’s Social Care agency spend: £6,941,545

Number of social worker vacancies: 35

A spokesperson from Salford City Council said: “In light of the national shortage of experienced social workers, we are taking urgent action as a Greater Manchester group to find local solutions. We are also collaborating closely with the Department for Education (DFE) to develop a comprehensive national response. Our commitment to tackling this issue is unwavering, ensuring that vulnerable individuals and communities receive the support they need.

“In Children’s Social Care Services we have developed a recruitment and retention strategy, and a recently formed Workforce Board working with partners across the Council to maximise our permanent workforce.

“Our turnover rate is lower than many comparator authorities. We have pathways to recruit and retain staff through having a Social Work Academy, using apprenticeships, Step up to Social Work and having some agency workers convert to permanent members of staff.”

Stockport

Adult and Children’s Social Care combined agency spend: £8,919,569.05

Number of social worker vacancies: 72

Coun Wendy Meikle, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education at Stockport Council, said: “We are incredibly proud of the fantastic work our Children’s and Adult Social Care social work colleagues do every day providing our residents with an essential service. There is a national workforce crisis in the recruitment of qualified social workers and care staff in Children’s Services and Adult Social Care.

“This has been acknowledged by the government who have made proposals to address this in their national strategy for children’s social care reforms ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’.

“Regional and local work is taking place to ensure that there is a strong strategy to address these workforce challenges including plans to adopt rules and agreements to reduce the movement of permanent staff to agency and salary costs in line with the government’s strategy.”

Councillor Keith Holloway, Cabinet Member for Health & Adult Social Care at Stockport Council, said: “We strive to ensure that Stockport is an employer of choice to both increase successful recruitment and retain the skilled workforce we have. Where we have vacancies we use agency workers to ensure we have the required staff to deliver statutory services.

“We continuously work hard to recruit and retain our social workers at all levels, from newly qualified staff to those with several years of experience, highlighting the rewarding and satisfying career they can have with the opportunities for continued professional development to maintain and upgrade their skills.”

Tameside

Adult Social Care agency spend: £1,744,500

Children’s Social Care agency spend: £12,186,956

Number of social worker vacancies: 50

A Tameside Council spokesperson said: “Our social workers provide an essential service to adults and children across Tameside. Like the majority of councils throughout the country, we use agencies in order to maintain the required level of staffing.

“We have several initiatives in place to reduce agency spend, including a successful and innovative recruitment campaign, jobs roadshows where we have hired staff on the day and a children’s workforce recruitment and retention strategy.

“The shortage of social workers is a national issue with demand for services increasing while funding is decreasing. We are working collaboratively with other authorities to further reduce agency dependency levels and with the central government to address this issue nationally.”

Trafford

Adult and Children’s Social Care combined agency spend: £15,023,495.8

Number of social worker vacancies: 23

A spokesperson for Trafford Council said: “There is a national shortage of social workers, highlighted in the Care Review, resulting in the government’s Made with Care campaign.

“As a Council, we’ve set up initiatives such as Trafford Learning Academy to grow and retain our social care workforce. This includes working with secondary schools to inspire young people to choose a career in social care. We also work with Trafford College and Manchester Metropolitan University to offer social work degrees for our current staff.

“Our social work colleagues are invaluable for their work with vulnerable people and communities. We therefore offer an attractive package to our social workers. This includes a competitive salary, flexible working and opportunities for career development. We also pay an additional market force supplement for social workers at bands eight and nine.

“The interim social workers we use are fully qualified and help us provide an essential service.

However, we are also awaiting the government’s response to the implementation of the children’s social care review to see how that can help us grow our workforce and reduce our need to use agency staff.”

Wigan

Adult Social Care agency spend: £728,531

Children’s Social Care agency spend: £19,656,618

Number of social worker vacancies: 52.5

Colette Dutton, director of children’s services at Wigan Council said: “Our Social workers provide a vital service, keeping children, vulnerable adults and families safe. It’s no secret that there is a national shortage of social workers which has led to an increase in agencies and fees.

“To ensure we offer value for money to our residents while attracting new talent and retaining staff, we developed our Care to Join us recruitment and retention campaign. The campaign has attracted a significant number of new social workers and our proactive approach received national recognition when it won last year’s Local Government Chronicle award for Innovation.”

The Unison union is urging is welcoming councils trying to take the work back ‘in-house’.

Unison North West social care lead Dan Smith said: “Unison’s Greater Manchester Care Workers campaign led to higher pay for thousands by compelling the ten GM authorities to make the real living wage the minimum starting salary for commissioned social care services. This saw a substantial pay rise for thousands of care workers in Greater Manchester.

“While this is welcome, so long as our care services remain in the hands of private companies, care workers’ wages will be held down to maximise profits for these firms. There are too many examples of unscrupulous employers exploiting the good will of care workers to make money on their investment.

“This means that care companies struggle to recruit and retain their employees, seriously impacting the quality of care for service users. Local authorities should look beyond the current model and develop in-house alternatives for the public delivery of social care.

“They must remove the profit motive and ensure that the needs of service users and carers are at the heart of the sector.”