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The challenge in numbers

1.59m

The number of people 

working in adult social care in England in 2023/24. 

8.3%

of Adult Social care roles were vacant in 2023/24.

40k

The number of additional workers needed in children's early years by Sept 2025.

63%

of applicants to children's residential worker roles in 2023/24 didn't have the right skills.

These figures are stark. As a country we are hugely dependent on agency social care workers to meet the needs of some of our most vulnerable people. Everyday agency workers play a vital role in changing lives and keeping the wheels of our public sector turning, however we need to do more to put stability back into this sector. 

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We all know using agency workers is more expensive than permanent staff, but what other negative impacts does this dependency create? By nature agency usage results in inconsistency in staff teams, resulting in weaker relationships with supported people, and as a result poorer outcomes. Great team cultures are harder to meet when people aren't employed permanently, and it's a difficult to build and retain that sense of 'team'. Combined these challenges further weaken the 'brand' of social care as an dynamic and impactful sector, filled with opportunities for its new recruits. 

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Of course, This challenge is not going to be solved overnight, it’s something that will require time as we change image, cultures and skillsets across the sector. 

The Independent Review

Following the 2021 publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, national and local government took note of a series of specific recommendations around children’s services’ workforces.

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These suggestions focused on giving children’s social workers the time and resources to build strong, respectful relationships with children and their families, whilst pushing for the growth and development of workers, giving them the skills to use these relationships to make real change. 

 

One of the key recommendations related to the setup of a series of not-for-profit regional staff banks across the UK. These would be designed to remove the emphasis of agencies on profit and move the focus back onto practice and purpose. Creating a flexible and quality workforce that aims to create long-term change.

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The report also stressed the need to look at the bigger picture, and to take action to reduce Local Authority reliance on agency social workers. As part of this project, we will encourage more social workers back into Local Authority employment, but this work requires roles and organisational cultures that they want to work and stay in. We want to build a balance in the workforce between temporary and permanent colleagues where both feel valued and invested in, to change the face of agency working, and to make sure that temporary workers feel part of the core Local Authority teams they’re working with. 

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The local insights

In May and June 2022,  Yonder People's parent company, Capacity delivered a significant engagement project across all 23 local authorities in the North West to understand a bit more about this problem from a children's social work angle. We asked... 

 

  • How do we create a permanent Local Authority workforce of engaged and effective social workers who support people to thrive? 

  • How do we compete with the flexibility, benefits and variety that commercial agencies offer individuals in the sector?  

  • Is there a role for a Local Authority backed, not-for-profit agency that gives more control in terms of quality and cost? 

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During this period we listened closely to the people who act as, or have acted as Children’s Social Worker in the region, as well as those who lead, train, and support them.  We also spoke to Officers within procurement, finance and organisational development to understand the relationships and contracts each Local Authority holds with the recruitment agencies they currently use. 

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“High levels of stress and frustration in every team and this leads to Social Workers looking for alternative employment or turning their back on their profession completely.”

“Seeing impact and doing direct work with families is what keeps you in the job”

"Families shouldn't experience any difference in the quality of support they receive whether a social worker is employed by an agency or an LA."

"It’s a myth that social workers are only driven by money but that’s the picture we are getting now because of the continual moving around.”  

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From the quantitative and qualitative data and insights gathered, Capacity identified some consistent themes and areas ripe for collaborative action. 

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  • Develop a high level cultural framework across the region.

  • Harmonise salaries and perks.

  • Invest in tech and back-office support.

  • Focus on learning and development.

  • Explore the setup of a regional not-for-profit agency or bank. 

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Where we are now

Following our insights phase we worked with the Department of Education and a core set of Local Authorities to explore the regional not-for-profit option theme that came through our insights phase, alongside-- those of the independent review. We spent time investigating this marketplace, looking into financial viability, models of operation, the use of technology and how this would work within procurement. Key for us was understanding the impact such an agency could have on the pockets and everyday impact of our care providers.

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The answer was - not enough.

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In mid-2024 we went away and adapted our proposals, moving our focus beyond just temporary recruitment and towards the bigger, systemic issues around social care workforce. We went back to the insights outlined above, exploring the core themes around staff attraction, development, engagement and retention. We thought bigger, about what we could do to reduce the need for agencies full stop.

 

This thinking formed our core offer, the things social care deliverers (whatever sector they work in) need to do better, to make a bigger change. 

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  • Find the right people.

  • Grow the right people.

  • Keep the right people. 

 

We want to rebuild people's pride in social care as a career, to make sure it's a place workers feel valued and invested in.  If we can do this our teams will have the time, space and tools to reignite their passion and form stronger relationships, with each other and most importantly with the people they support. 

Get in touch 

sam.thorley@yonderpeople.org    

Suite 3A, Queen Insurance Building, 24 Queen Ave, Liverpool L2 4TZ

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