Agenda item

Purpose of the report: To provide an update on the impact of the initiatives to improve recruitment and retention of key staff in Adult Social Care and Children’s Services.

Witnesses:

Sonya Sellar, Area Director, Adult Social Care;
Penny Mackinnon, Area Head of Children’s Services
Clare Curran, Cabinet Member for Children and Families Wellbeing
Mel Few, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence

Declarations of interests:

Helena Windsor declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of the Improvement Board

Key points of discussion:

1. Officers outlined the current position of the adults and children’s workforce. It was highlighted that the updated vacancy rate for the Adults Services as of November 2016 was 11%. It was also noted that the Children’s workforce had an improved vacancy rate of 21% and an improved turnover rate of 14.04% as of December 2016.
   
   
2. The Board questioned why the directorates experienced relatively high levels of staff vacancy rates and what was being done to attempt to alleviate this issue. It was highlighted that the services experienced high turnover rates at experienced qualified staff levels, rather than those at a newly qualified level. The Cabinet Member for Children and Families Wellbeing highlighted that this type of staff turnover would not be alleviated by the provision of key worker housing, but it was stressed that the service was looking into options for delivering this in future to maintain an attractive employment offer. Officers also noted that the service was providing re-location expenses for new employees, as part of the improved Surrey offer.
   
   
3. Members questioned the Adult Social Care directorate’s three year recruitment and retention strategy and whether it was the most effective method available, or whether a more flexible approach would have been more suitable. Officers noted that the three year strategy had been constantly under review to ensure that it maintained flexibility to deal with unexpected issues and new opportunities.
   
   
4. It was highlighted by officers that an issue limiting effective recruitment into vacant positions was pay, highlighting that Surrey’s proximity to London and the high cost of living in Surrey could be barriers to recruitment. Officers noted that these issues were being resolved as part of the Pay and Reward review 2016.
   
   
5. Officers noted that the services had used exit interviews with departing staff as a means of assessing issues and identifying how we can learn from and improve recruitment and retention. It was also noted that the service was using data collected in the staff survey in order to improve the wellbeing of workers. It was suggested that feedback from surveys had been implemented and incorporated into recruitment and retention strategies. 
   
   
6. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence stressed that the three Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) consider workforce as key to their plans. It was noted that the future plans may include the idea of integrating social work into an NHS care worker model, creating a defined career path and resolving some issues regarding recruitment. Members questioned whether this idea could be scrutinised by the Wellbeing and Health Scrutiny Board in future.
   
   

Recommendations:

The Board notes the report and commends the officers for the work around addressing the challenges around workforce. The Board recommends:

1. That proposals to align and join up initiatives across the services are progressed, and a further report is brought to the Board in 9 months;
   
   
2. That a short briefing on the key themes from the staff survey for both directorates is circulated to the Board; and
   
   
3. That the Chairman ask the Wellbeing and Health Scrutiny Board to raise a question regarding workforce when it receives its update on the Surrey Heartlands STP on 17 February.