Agenda item

[Jennifer Rogers, Principal Social Worker, to present report]

The Chair invited Jenny Rogers, Principal Social Worker, to present the report. The Principal Social Worker advised the panel that annual health check report covers social workers in children’s and adults. The focus of the presentation will be on the responses on the social workers in children’s services.

The Principal Social Worker outlined the background to the decision to introduction of the social work health check survey. The aim of the survey is to identify areas of strength in social work practice and where extra support is needed. The survey findings are also used to assist with workforce development planning and continuous improvement.

The survey was extended from social workers to include the wider frontline adults in children's workforce as well. The survey response rate was slightly higher in adults social workforce compared to children workforce. The Principal Social Worker accepted there was room for improving the survey response rate and added that lower response may have been due to timing when teams were still facing ongoing challenges with responding to the impact of COVID.

The Principal Social Worker briefed the panel on the main findings from the survey, in terms of areas of strength and areas for development. The overall survey shows generally positive progress compared to the previous survey.

The Principal Social Worker detailed the key actions which have been developed to address the areas highlighted in the survey and added that there were no surprises in the areas listed. The Principal Social Worker commented that a key theme across both health check surveys responses was a desire for a better work life balance which has become blurred as people continue to work remotely and there is an acceptance that further work is needed to improve the situation.

The Principal Social Worker advised the panel that across children's social work and workforce, the issue of workload manageability has decreased slightly since last year but acknowledged the existing staffing challenges had been exacerbated as a result to Covid 19.  The service will be aiming for better and earlier advertising of training courses, and more progression and variety of training. The Principal Social Worker commented that over 96 per cent of social workers said that were satisfied with the support they receive informally from their manager at times when needed most.

The Principal Social Worker commented on the key actions being developed to address the areas of concern highlighted in the survey responses and shared quotes about their experiences of working for the Council.

The panel thanked the presenter for the report and presentation.

The panel queried the role of the peripatetic social work team. The Principal Social confirmed the role would be like that of a supply teacher where they would be used where needed.

The panel queried if the use of the team would cause a delay in the recruitment of a permanent workers. The Principal Social Worker reassured the panel the introduction of the peripatetic team would not lead to any delays in recruitment. The aim would be to recruit quickly.

The Principal Social Worker added that the peripatetic team would consist of people who are permanently employed by the Council. There are only a few permanent vacancies, the bigger concern is recruiting for short term vacancies. The challenge is recruiting high quality agency workers needed and funding the cost of employing them.

The panel queried the reasons for the reduction in the number of social workers getting regular supervision. The Principal Social Worker reassured the panel that the figures do not mean that social workers are not getting support and advised that they would also be getting informal support, outside of formal scheduled supervision sessions when needed.

The panel discussed other professional development opportunities for social workers and highlighted the importance of offering alternative education opportunities to people who may not want to pursue a career in social work management.

The Principal Social Worker commented on the different career progression pathways available to social workers, for example, best interest assessors, approved mental health practitioner professional. The Council has also developed links with the University of Wolverhampton to offer social workers research opportunities,

The issue career progression options would also be discussed in supervision sessions.

The panel welcomed the report.

Resolved:

1. The panel agreed to note the report and the key findings.

2. The panel comments on the findings of the Children and Young People ‘s Service social work and wider workforce health check for 2021 to be considered.

3. The panel to receive a progress report at a future meeting in 2022 on the proposed actions to improve the health of social workers and the wider workforce and conditions of practice action plan.