Government agency social work rules will not reduce councils’ reliance on locums in children’s services, say practitioners.
The rules, which will start to take effect at the end of this month, aim “to reduce the overreliance on and costs of agency child and family social workers” for English councils, says the Department for Education (DfE).
They will require authorities to agree regional pay caps for locums’ hourly rates and refrain from hiring early career practitioners, or staff who have recently left permanent roles in the same region, as agency workers.
Policy will have ‘no impact’ on locum use
However, most social workers (78%) believe the rules will have no impact on authorities’ use of agency staff because of high vacancy levels, according to a Community Care poll that received 775 votes.
Just 11% said the use of locums would fall “by a small amount”, with the same proportion saying it would “reduce significantly”.
As of September 2023, 18.9% of full-time equivalent social work posts in council children’s services lay vacant.
Pay cap ‘will be breached’
In the related article, Andrew McKenzie won agreement from fellow readers in a detailed comment setting out why he thought the rules would have no impact.
In relation to the pay caps, he said: “Some regional areas will achieve the implementation of an initial pay cap, as they have done so in the past, then acute need will drive permissible breaches of the cap (why do you think the guidance allows for breaches?), in areas where staff shortages become acute.”
Mr Wong predicted the changes would be “short-lived” because of councils’ struggles to retain and recruit staff and questioned the legality of refusing to hire agency workers based on their recent departure from permanent positions.
Meanwhile, agency staff took to the comments, warning of their intentions to quit if their pay was cut.
“If my hourly rate changes I’m leaving the profession,” said one.
“I’ve been agency for 10 years and loved how ‘office politics’ no longer affected me as I go in and get the job done. I refuse to work for less pay. I’d rather just leave.”
Rules may ‘adversely impact services’
Ohers claimed that the rules could be detrimental to services.
“Children’s services are run by the unpaid goodwill and overtime work of social workers and, particularly, agency workers,” said J. Rahman.
“The changes may adversely impact services and have a ripple effect on the children and families who need support and protection.”
Agency workers used as ‘scapegoats’
One practitioner raised concerns that locums were being blamed for wider sector issues.
“Instead of looking at the workers who are plugging the gaps, why don’t we consider the private residential care at untold costs,” they said.
“If permanent workers were paid fairly, agency [wouldn’t be] enticing.”
Julie echoed this sentiment, criticising the “scapegoating” of agency workers, while another social worker, Hayley, said the changes ignored “the actual problems”.
“The sad fact is children’s services would fall [apart] without agency workers stepping in. [They] are broken and not fit for purpose.
Looking at the bigger picture
Several practitioners urged a deeper look at why permanent staff were leaving for agency roles in the first place.
Pauline said: “Instead of pitching agency workers against permanent ones, why not look at why agency workers are employed in the first place? Why [can’t] a manager keep a team of social workers together? It is not merely about resources.
“If a worker feels safe, valued, supported and receives sound leadership, why would they want to leave? Where are the support systems, the unions, HR departments, and agency representatives to safeguard the interest and safety of the workers?”
Clair called for a change in how overworked staff were treated, to stop them being pushed to quit or join agencies.
“Let’s start paying our social workers for the hours they work, rather than 37 hours. Stop blaming agency workers and look at the issue of why we can’t retain staff.”
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Agree completely with Clair. Social Workers are exploited by their managers , relying heavily on their goodwill to address their caseloads
Blame is a subjective word but it is absolutely the case that agency staff do directly impact how services are run and who gets to provide them. Defensiveness or a somewhat overblown but unjustified conviction that without agency staff services would collapse is mirth inducing. Agency staff have zero committment to the communities they work in. Why would they? They are here today gone tomorrow with no accountability for what they abandon and the chaos leaving abruptly often creates. It’s not a blame game nor pitching worker against worker being honest about this but a reflection of the realities permanent staff are dealing with. That’s it. Ultimately it’s about money for an agency worker. I know because I used to be one until I could no longer pretend I was the bees knees and my permanent colleagues the mugs for working endless hours for no extra pay. It took my niece becoming a permanent social worker for me to shame myself into returning to permanent work. Morality is a flexible concept in the age of seeing everything from the lived experience fetishing prism but it does have objective truths. Time we just framed this debate solely about money for that is the most important driver for agency work. Work life balance and the like come way below that. Honesty might not be a virtue but it certainly does assuage the contortions of the conscience.
Zero commitment! I’ve worked tirelessly for many LA’s & have supported their permanent staff too.
Generalised comment made in your own assumptions. Not all agency workers are about pay for some of us we have been treated so badly that we refuse to work permanently for LA’s.
Ever worked unpaid overtime?
Let the review also include residential children’s homes and the huge amount spent on placing a child. Year or year the cost is increasing and nothing is done by government to curtail the excessive spending by social care in this area alone. Therapeutic ASD/MH placements now cost on average £15000 per week and we have a long list of children waiting for such placements. SW deserve better pay and autonomy to choose how they want to work.
I disagree with your comments Lee,just because you are agency staff does not mean you have less commitment!!
What is evident to me is authority’s who employ agency workers are already having difficulty retaining staff,the culture,attitudes, leadership and decision making are questionable, often with hierarchical belivies both with the service users and employees,which leads to uncomforable working enviroments,with no one wanting to be open and honest.
Decision making is based on knee jerk reaction with no clear thinking or reasoning behind the decisions other than removal believing this will make the case more workable before exploring access to services which is tried and tested before proceeding are initiated.
This then courses confusion and of course conflict with the family with the decision makers then expecting the social workers to take accountablity.Attitudes of some in leadership positions seriously need addressing before again blaming social workers for a system which has lost direction with questionable decision making and knowledge base.
Perhaps going back to the basics of pratice may support more permanent staff requiring less agency staff to leave when an environment is unsafe.
Decision making is not based on social work these days it is more about back covering believing if a child is removed and care proceedings are initiated this protects the child and management(It has wider implications)
Think about it I did not include the social worker who are scapegoats regardless of whether you are permanent or agency staff.
With regards to therapeutic placement and specialist foster placements, what exactly are they offering to expect such high fees when they can end a placement at a drop of an hat because the young person is challenging. What happened to the 28 days notice period yet this pratice is not challenged, the young person is moved on with a scramble to find another placement costing another large fee.In some cases i have yet to see any true evidence of specialists work provided to the service user.
Perhaps look in this area about commitment!!
Instead of blaming social workers for everything out of thier control when the final decisions are in senior managers hands. Social workers like any other profession can choose whether to be agency or permanent staff.
If a worker feels they will be supported,can access good decision making,legal advice,professional and useful resources from manager’s and senior manager’s why would they leave?
You will find committed workers in permanent and agency staff.
Social workers alone can not offer a service,yet are expected to take responsibility for all that does not work even how they choose to support themselfs financially.
Look at the wider issues.
Let me clarify, when I was an agency worker my commitment to users of our services was as uncompromising as my permanent colleagues. But only during the hours I was actually paid for. When my contracted hours were up I left the office. I organised my work within those hours only while my permanent colleagues would often be in the office until 8-9 pm.
I to as an agency and permanent worker have worked from 8 am sometimes until 10pm, you may still have to work late in the evenings updating the system regardless of how organised you are, it makes no difference whether you are permanent or agency staff.
It has never been the case where I have left at my contracted hour’s as a agency worker, sometimes it is not appropriate to do so because there is no back up symptoms in place to support you.If you work late the attitude is that’s your fault.It appears you are damed if you do damed if you don’t.
How do you manage your visits to speak with the children in thier home environment when they often do not return home until 4/4:30 or 5pm? how do you manage if parents are not avaliable for your visits within your working hours? how do you manage if you have to accommodate a child?
It is unacceptable to expect social workers to work long unpaid hour’s regardless of whether you are permanent or agency staff.I can only speak for myself but has an agency worker you also end up working pass your contracted hour’s which you do not get paid for unless you challenge why not.
Social workers are clearly working long hours out of good will therefore I find it difficuilt to understand how you can claim agency workers are not just has committed as permanent staff.
It’s exploitation of Social Workers. Local Authorities and their managers need to be held to account. Exploitation is not compatible with Social Work values. Where are you Social Work England, BASW, UNISON,etc
SWE would be very critical of a Social Worker who took 2yrs 7 months to conclude an assessment, and would possibly lead to the Social Worker being struck off. Should SWE be struck off?
Ah, the age-old debate: local authority vs. agency social worker. It’s like watching two sides fight over the last piece of cake at a party—except one side offers cake, extra pay, and flexible hours, while the other side keeps saying, “But we have… consistency?”
Let’s be real, the reason agency work is so appealing is obvious. Better pay, more control over your schedule, and the ability to avoid the dreaded “just one more case” conversation. I mean, who wouldn’t be tempted by that? If local authorities want to keep their staff, they need to realise that social workers aren’t interchangeable cogs in a machine, but human beings who need support, respect, and—dare I say it—decent working conditions!
The simple truth is, if you treat your staff like they’re expendable, don’t be surprised when they decide to jump ship. It’s like trying to keep your partner happy by buying them socks for their birthday while your neighbor is handing out all-expenses-paid holidays. Guess who’s moving next door?
So, to the powers that be: maybe it’s time to stop relying on “rules” and start thinking about what actually makes social workers stick around. Spoiler alert—it’s not the free tea in the breakroom. Treat your social workers well, and who knows, you might just keep a few. And if you don’t, well… there’s always the agencies.
No fighting over stale cake here, just a simple desire to be honest about what really drives agency working. It’s not pitching social worker against social worker to point out that whether they know it, want to know it, acknowledge their complicity in it or ignore it, agency workers lay the groundwork for employers to suppress the wages of permanent workers. Agency workers are the equivalent of hedge funds. Just facts really.
David your tenacious approach to seek answer’s for yourself and those in similar situations is clear to see.
Let’s hope you have some impact and your question’s answered.
Thank you Pauline.