Agenda item

To consider the latest position with regard to posts supporting the delivery of statutory adult social care services, including use of Workforce Recruitment and Retention Funding.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Requested to receive West Northamptonshire data from the Skills for Care data set.

b)    Recommended that West Northamptonshire Council consider the potential to include a hero scheme in the promotion of opportunities in social care.  

c)    Recommended that West Northamptonshire Council consider the potential to do more promotion of opportunities in social care with BAME communities and young people, working with relevant community groups.

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Performance introduced the report and gave an overview of the use of Workforce Recruitment and Retention Funding (WRRF) Scheme funding by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).  The Committee was advised that in winter 2021/22 there had been significant pressures on staffing in the sector, including an average of 2,400 unmet home care hours, compared to 735 in October 2022.  The WRRF Scheme had helped to address this situation in West Northamptonshire, had made staff feel valued, and had been recognised by Unison as best practice use of funding.  WNC had sought to use WRRF funding in a meaningful way rather than just passing it on to providers.     

The WRRF Scheme was only open to those who were delivering Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated activity, as this was the key area of pressure, and staff members had to meet other qualifying criteria.  Bonus payments were made on a pro rata basis linked to a staff member’s average working hours over a 9 week period, to take into account employers using zero hours contracts.  The WRRF Scheme generated 383 new recruits; 4,830 existing staff received the bonus payment; hard work had resulted in 88% of providers signing up; and £3m had been distributed to carers in West Northamptonshire.

Areas for improvement had been identified.  The implementation of the Scheme caused upset for staff who worked for regulated care providers but who did not deliver CQC regulated activity: some settings such as day care centres do not deliver CQC regulated activity.  Communication could have been better with providers and staff.  Some providers were slow to complete payment applications, although WNC ensured that no staff lost out because of this.  The Scheme had initially operated on a countywide basis but North Northamptonshire Council had changed its criteria mid-way through its duration.  WNC had also ensured that this change did not adversely affect any staff.  The WRRF Scheme was now closed and further government funding was not expected.      

The Committee considered the overview and members raised the following points during the course of discussion:

·         Did the number of late applications reflect that the administration of the WRRF Scheme was too onerous for some care providers?

·         Did any other council find a way of increasing the percentage of providers who signed up for the Scheme above that achieved in Northamptonshire?

·         The £600 bonus had made a real difference to staff.  The Scheme was a good one.

·         WNC had taken a diligent approach to the Scheme and credit was due for what had been achieved.

·         Was it known if the 383 new recruits generated by the Scheme had been retained? 

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Performance responded to points raised by members during the course of discussion as follows:

·         Regulated care providers had to comply with extensive tracking and reporting requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The WRRF Scheme could have seemed like an additional demand, particularly given the need to calculate the average hours for staff on zero hours contracts.  However, WNC had sought to make the operation of the Scheme as straightforward as possible.  Some of the 12% of providers who did not sign up to the Scheme were community-based organisations who thought it was unfair to reward some staff but not others.  Some were national companies who did not want to engage with different systems in different areas.

·         Many other councils just passported WRRF Scheme funding to care providers to use as they saw fit.  WNC’s experience with other COVID-19 grant funding was that this approach did not produce meaningful outcomes.  However, there was no one perfect way to use the funding. 

·         It was not known whether all new recruits had been retained although unmet care hours had reduced significantly and the sector was approaching winter in a better position than in the previous year.

The Assistant Director Safeguarding and Wellbeing advised that WNC was now able to use the national Skills for Care data set to get a better picture of staffing capacity in the sector.  There remained significant pressures heading into the next winter, although WNC was not in a worse position than other councils.

The Assistant Director Safeguarding and Wellbeing went on to give an overview of the position regarding WNC’s internal recruitment of care staff.  The Committee was advised that there were fewer vacancies in in-house provided care settings in September 2022 than there had been in June 2022.  In preparation for winter there had been targeted recruitment campaigns with 8 Reablement Support Officers recently recruited.  The £600 WRRF payment had reduced the number of leavers per month.  There had been an increase in interest for care and support roles since the introduction of the £10 per hour pay rate, but it was still difficult to convert that to posts filled.  The process of screening, interviews and job offers had been speeded up but there needed to be a continuing focus on this area.  The national situation involved significant challenges that were likely to get worse before they got better.

The WNC recruitment offer sought to highlight the range of skills involved in care work and the opportunities for a professional career that it offered.  There were perceptions of care work that needed to be overcome.  The COVID-19 pandemic had also had a huge impact on care workers.

The recruitment team had used multiple approaches to raise awareness of job opportunities, including social media, job boards, posters, leaflets, adverts on the side of buses and Job Centre recruitment events.  There was a full range of apprenticeship options available, which gave people the opportunity to be trained without going to university.

An out of hospital discharge scheme was being piloted this winter, which effectively operated like a good neighbour scheme.  A carer would meet a patient in hospital and offer focussed help following discharge.  This would help people to return to living independently in their own home and enable the reablement service to focus on people with more complex needs. Out of hospital delays had provided a massive challenge.

Recruitment needed to address wider issues such as social work students returning home after graduating because they could not afford to live independently.  NPH was working on the provision of housing for key workers.  This was a national issue.  WNC would run a further recruitment campaign for social workers in Spring 2023.  WNC offered one of the best pay rates for Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) due to the introduction of the £10 per hour rate.  However, there were challenges connected with offering NQSWs a career pathway that would encourage them to stay.   

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Performance highlighted that adult social care commissioning was a rare skill that did not have a high profile, which made recruitment challenging and expensive.  WNC therefore sought to grow its own capacity and 5 commissioners had been trained internally.  WNC was now in a good position with regard to quality control, market management and managing relationships with providers.  The Assistant Director Safeguarding and Wellbeing emphasised that this was still a challenging area and WNC needed to strike the right balance between its roles as a commissioner and a provider.

The Committee considered the overview and members raised the following points during the course of discussion:

·         How could WNC raise awareness amongst young people of opportunities in care work, which could provide fulfilling roles that gave transferable skills?  Could a youth event be organised?

·         There was the potential for more activity focussed on black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, in conjunction with relevant community groups.

·         Did WNC operate a ‘heroes’ award scheme for care workers?  If so, this could be included in recruitment publicity to help people to visualise what roles involved.

·         Care work should include more flexible opportunities, such as enabling care workers to support people in a work setting.

·         Previous economic downturns  had led to increasing interest in opportunities in the care sector. 

The Assistant Director Safeguarding and Wellbeing welcomed the ideas highlighted and emphasised that all options were considered.  Economic returns were a key driver for people and increased opportunities in retail in the lead up to Christmas did affect the care sector.  The current economic downturn was not yet causing widespread business closures.  WNC would be prepared if this situation was to change.

RESOLVED: that the People Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

a)    Requested to receive West Northamptonshire data from the Skills for Care data set.

b)    Recommended that West Northamptonshire Council consider the potential to include a hero scheme in the promotion of opportunities in social care.  

c)    Recommended that West Northamptonshire Council consider the potential to do more promotion of opportunities in social care with BAME communities and young people, working with relevant community groups.