Union backs Welsh social work plan

Plans to develop a Wales-wide or regional approach to recruiting
social workers and setting pay and conditions have won crucial
union backing.

Unison Cymru regional organiser Dominic MacAskill welcomed
recommendations in a workforce report published last week for rises
in minimum and maximum pay rates, depending on experience, as an
interim measure while the potential for a national pay scale is
examined.

“There is evidence of a need for this type of pay scale,” he said.
“Councils are currently assessing social workers’ jobs and this is
an opportunity for them to use the interim scale as a benchmark.”

MacAskill said pay levels were “all over the place”, with some
councils using scales set in the 1980s.

The Welsh Local Government Association also said a collective
approach to tackling the shortage of social workers was needed.