Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

Children’s Social Care Workforce

20 July 2022 · 5 other contributors · 8,959 words

Opened by Marie Rimmer Lab St Helens South and Whiston

Responding minister: Brendan Clarke-Smith

Social CareChildren & Families

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Marie Rimmer raised concerns about children’s social care workforce in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Social workers are essential for supporting vulnerable children, but recruitment and retention rates are low.
  • In 2021, 3,630 social workers left local authorities, a 16% increase from the previous year.
  • Local authorities are increasingly relying on agency workers, costing an additional 26,000 per worker annually.

Key requests to Government

The Government should implement a five-year early career framework for social workers and develop standardised pay and conditions that recognise their expertise. Additionally, they need to promote the invaluable role of social workers in society through a national recruitment strategy and address the independent review of children's social care recommendations as soon as possible.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Marie Rimmer Lab St Helens South and Whiston

Social workers are crucial for supporting the most vulnerable children in society, but recruitment and retention rates are alarmingly low. In 2021, 3,630 social workers left their posts at local authorities, representing a 16% increase from the previous year. Many of these social workers leave due to unmanageable caseloads; over half of all social workers have considered leaving because of them. Local authorities are increasingly relying on agency workers, costing an additional £26,000 per worker annually.

Other contributors (5)
  • Helen Hayes Lab Dulwich and West Norwood

    She acknowledged the crisis in children's social care, highlighting issues such as recruitment challenges for local authorities, high caseloads for social workers, and profiteering in the private foster agency sector. She cited statistics showing a 15% turnover rate of social workers in 2021, with one in six posts being vacant. Helen Hayes called for an end to profiteering and demanded urgent action from the Government.

  • Mick Whitley Lab Cynon Valley

    Mr Whitley highlighted the vulnerability of young people in the social care system, pointing out that funding for children's services has been cut by almost a quarter over 10 years and spending on early intervention services nearly halved nationally. He also noted high turnover rates among social workers due to unmanageable workloads and low pay.

  • Mike Amesbury Lab Newton Abbot

    Mr Amesbury highlighted the importance of children's social care and expressed concern over high caseloads, complex cases, and the unsustainable turnover rate in Halton. He noted that for every new social worker joining, two leave, leading to an increase in agency workers who are less stable and more expensive. He also mentioned a third of social workers leaving their roles after two years with nearly three-quarters leaving the profession altogether. The Conservative-led Local Government Association has recently published figures about the funding pressure. Of course, that was based on a settlement, with inflation around 2%. We are looking at a shortfall of around £3.4 billion for local government, and 60% of local council finances and budgets go on social care. The system is broken; the current situation is not sustainable.

  • Rachael Maskell Lab Co-op York Central

    Ms Maskell highlighted the current challenges faced by social workers in keeping families together and ensuring children's safety, citing a lack of resources and emotional stress. She emphasised the need for proper support and recognition for social workers through initiatives like Josh MacAlister's report and the five-year early career framework, which ensures social workers have the necessary supervision and training to make informed decisions. The independent review comes as a package and holds together as such. Is the Minister committing that the Government will accept the package and make the level of investment that the review calls for? On a similar theme, there has been a real increase in demand for services. Many of the figures the Minister gave predate the pandemic, and after the pandemic we have seen a real spike in demand for children's services. How is the Minister compensating that with the investment in local authorities?

  • Tulip Siddiq Lab Hampstead and Highgate

    The recent independent care review chaired by Josh MacAlister found that agency social workers contribute to the instability experienced by children, causing a loss of over £100 million a year. The rates of agency work are at a record high of 15.5%, and there is a need for the Government to explain its strategy and policy on tackling the overuse of agency staff.

Government Response

Brendan Clarke-Smith

I congratulate the hon. Member for St Helens South and Whiston on securing this important debate and pay tribute to every person working in children's social care. The Minister notes that there are more child and family social workers than ever before, with 32,500 employed by local authorities in England in September 2021 (a 14% increase from 2017). He also mentions the £50 million yearly investment for recruiting and developing social workers. The Government are considering recommendations such as regional staff banks, national pay scales, memorandums of understanding to reduce agency costs, an early career framework, and improvement funding for a staff bank pilot in St Helens and Liverpool city region (£250,000). The Minister also highlights the importance of addressing undervaluation and stigma towards social workers, while emphasising that they play a crucial role in protecting vulnerable children. He recognises challenges but remains committed to stabilising and strengthening children's social care through central programmes and funding.

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