Barnsley Council to give social workers one off payment of £2,000 as it faces “challenges” retaining staff

A proposal to give social workers a one off payment of £2,000 was approved during today’s (November 2) cabinet meeting.

A “golden hello” payment of £3,000 to all new social workers recruited will also continue.

A report states that the “discreet payment would be for people most likely to be considering leaving the council”.

Feedback from staff in the department, as part of a report into the service, found that some employees have “higher caseloads and workloads than wewould want”, and there are “fewer opportunities to build relationships with families and undertake direct work with children and young people”.

A review into Barnsley’s children’s services, which oversees children’s social care, protects vulnerable youngsters and supports families, has been undertaken.

A recurring investment of £41,000 will create additional temporary and permanent roles at the home.

A total of £6.485m will be invested in children’s services, focusing on capacity, leadership, and early help .

The review also found that Barnsley spends £735 per capita on its services to children and young people.

In contrast the average spend for statistical neighbours is £1197, for Yorkshire and Humber it is £875 and for England it is £834.

The report, commissioned by Sir Steve Houghton CBE, leader of the council and Councillor Trevor Cave, cabinet member for children’s services, found that caseloads across some services are “too high and unmanageable,” due to vacancies, “difficulties with recruitment and retention and sickness levels”.

BMBC proposes to use agency staff to address the shortage, and support employees back into work.

The report adds that the top three reasons for long-term sick leave between January 2020 – August 2022 was anxiety, stress and depression.

Early help services are also under “significant pressure”, which is expected to worsen due to the cost of living crisis.

Family support workers within early help are are often working with more than 50 children, and BMBC intend to invest £1.5m in more support workers and managers to ease the workload.

The report concludes: “When children, young people and families need services to support them, our response is sometimes not as timely or effective as it should be..”

During today’s meeting, leader of the council Sir Steve Houghton CBE said: “What’s become clear across the country since Covid is the level of pressure now that’s on children’s services.

“What this report highlights is Barnsley is no different.

“The council is under the cosh with its budgets, but I think that does show the council’s commitment to young people in the borough to keeping them safe.

“I do feel for social workers, the pressure they have to deal with, the issues they have to deal with, which can be incredibly complex as well as challenging.

"Hopefully we can support the staff in making sure that not only are we providing a decent service, but it’s a good place for the staff to work.”

Councillor Trevor Cave added: “We’re really proud of our employees who are committed and work incredibly hard to make to make these things happen.

“We want our children and young people to feel safe and have opportunities to live fulfilling lives.”