Agenda item

Report CEF22101

The report presented a request for targeted investment of £2.4M to fund additional staffing capacity for Children’s Social Care for a four-year period to meet high levels of demand in the post-COVID period and meet the Local Authority’s commitment to provide social workers with the right environment to deliver good quality practice across manageable caseloads.  A gradual reduction of demand was anticipated over the four-year period, allowing staff funding to be brought back in line with present capacity.  A further request was made for the use of £250k Contingency monies to fund short-term support to the Safeguarding Service as a one-off request.

In response to a question from a Member, the Director of Children, Education and Families confirmed that it was proposed to fund twenty additional social worker posts to reduce caseloads which had risen to an average of 21 cases per social worker against Bromley’s ‘caseload promise’ of 12-15 cases.  It was planned to decrease this additional staffing capacity by five posts per annum to be met by natural wastage as demand reduced in the post-COVID period and earlier effective interventions led to better and safer outcomes for children and families.  A Member queried how the Local Authority was performing in relation to comparator boroughs and the Director of Children, Education and Families advised that local authorities tended not to share this information; however, the increase in referrals was a national issue and it was likely that other local authorities were experiencing similar service pressures. 

A Co-opted Member asked for a progress update on two teams of social workers established in June 2022 for a six-month period to address immediate issues with caseload demand.  The Director of Children, Education and Families reported that the temporary teams had been working effectively by reducing caseload pressures as well as by strengthening practice.  A Member queried whether there was potential to extend the period of additional staffing capacity should demand remain high, and the Director of Children, Education and Families confirmed that pressures on Children’s Social Care would be monitored closely and if necessary, further action would be taken.  The Portfolio Holder observed that a similar model of short-term additional funding had been effectively used by the Local Authority during a previous period of high demand for Children’s Social Care.

RESOLVED: That the Council’s Executive be recommended to:

·  Endorse and support the proposal for time-limited funding for additional staff for Children’s Social Care (£2.4M);

·  Approve the use of £250k of Contingency monies to fund short-term support to the Safeguarding Service as a one-off request; and,

·  Agree the additional funding cover a period of four years during which time it was expected there would be a reduction of five posts per annum, bringing staff funding back in line with present capacity at the end of the period by:

·  An anticipated reduction of demand which would allow between 5-10 posts to be absorbed into existing agency social worker posts and/or vacancies as they arose; and,

·  Allowing more effective working of cases by reducing periods of intervention and allowing cases to be closed sooner, reducing the overall number of open cases across the service by between 65-70 per year for the next four years.