Welcome to the Swindon Borough Council Employer Profile. We are delighted to showcase our children’s social care services, to give you more information on our practices and teams, and on why Swindon is the perfect place to continue your social work career.
Children's services
At Swindon what we do really matters
We love ‘our’ Swindon. We want the best for it. We turn up each and every day to have impact, a place and people to be proud of.
At Swindon we do things right
We are accountable to our residents and ourselves to make the best decisions we can, to try new things to make Swindon thrive now and in the future.
At Swindon we make it happen together
We work together, with our communities, across the Council and with our partners to get the best we can collectively for Swindon.
We are most proud of our ways of working and the relationships we build with each other, partner agencies and, most importantly, children and their family networks, who we put at the heart of everything we do.
It sets out three priority missions for the next decade to build a ‘fairer’, ‘better’ and ‘greener’ Swindon:
- Build a Fairer Swindon – Making Swindon a fairer place, reducing disadvantages and reducing big disparities in life expectancy, education levels and social justice.
- Build a Better Swindon – Creating a town ready for the challenges of the coming decades. Where possible, leading town centre improvement and creating more affordable housing with the private sector
- Build a Greener Swindon – Fully playing our part as a council and a town in combatting climate change. Working with communities to find new ways of doing things that help, not hinder, the natural environment.
Why choose Swindon?
Our Family Safeguarding Model brings together one team of social workers and adult practitioners who all work together with a family to offer help and support for a wide range of challenges.
Fostering with Swindon
At Swindon Borough Council we are committed to supporting children to remain living in, or close to, Swindon when they are unable to stay living with their family members.
We know that deciding to find out more about fostering is a big decision.
We aim to support you in many ways by sharing information with you, answering any questions you might have and providing opportunities for you to speak with members of our team, including some of our experienced foster carers.
Our Specialist Teams
In Swindon we’ve invested millions to completely change our operating model in children’s social care and to get the best outcomes for children and families.
Our Location
Living in Swindon
Swindon is a town on the rise, offering good schooling, and proximity to both major cities and beautiful countryside.
Swindon’s main appeal lies in its affordability and connectivity, with lower house prices than nearby city hotspots like Bristol, Newbury and Reading. It sits just off the M4 with a mainline train station that runs to both Bristol and London Paddington in under an hour.
With extensive outdoor spaces like the lush Lydiard Park and Coate Water Country Park, you’ll always have a place to unwind and enjoy nature.
Map of Swindon
Rewards & Benefits
- Newly qualified – ASYE social worker – £36,124
- Social worker – £43,683
- Experienced social worker – £48,710
- Senior practitioner – £52,805
- Assistant team manager – £53,886
- Child protection co-ordinators/independent reviewing officer – £56,073
- Team manager – £61,858
Inclusive of paid annual leave and subject to annual National Joint Council (NJC) Green Book pay award
Carers leave
The council provides colleagues, who are carers, up to 25 hours per year (pro rata for part time staff) to take paid time off work to support with their caring responsibilities.
Career break
If you have at least two years of continuous service with the Council, you can request a career break from three months and a maximum of 12 months, every three years.
The council provides a generous contribution rate of 21.4% in employer contributions.
You pay pension contributions between 5.5% and 12.5% depending on salary and Swindon Borough Council contributes 21.4% in employer contributions.
If you pay tax, you receive tax relief on your contributions.
Your pension is calculated each year and adjusted for inflation so ait keeps up with he cost of living.
You can exchange part of your pension on retirement for a tax-free lump sum.
Immediate life cover and death in service grant of 3x your annual salary (subject to two-year vesting period, whereby you must have paid into the Local Government Pension Scheme for at least two years as an active member of the scheme).
- Flexible working
- Employee Assistance Programme provided by Care First with 24/7 access
- Access to Swindon Borough Council Occupational Health Service
- Purchase additional annual leave scheme (up to ten additional days per leave year)
- Salary sacrifice childcare vouchers
- Under five years of service: 28 days FTE plus bank holidays
- 5+ years of service: 32 days FTE plus bank holidays
Plus, a generous purchase annual leave scheme, allowing you to buy an additional 10 days per year
Monetary value of paid holiday (included in annual salary figures) based on 28 days annual leave FTE:
- ASYE – £3,860
- Social worker – £4,667
- Experienced social worker – £5,204
- Senior practitioner – £5,642
- Assistant team manager – £5,757
- Child protection co-ordinator/Independent reviewing officer – £5,991
- Team manager – £6,609
- Relocation allowance of up to £8,000
- Free parking for work appointments worth £634
- Employee benefits, including retail, entertainment and leisure discounts.
- Local employee saving at STEAM, restaurants and more.
SWA and continuous professional development opportunities, extensive suite of CPD training opportunities provided via the learning and development team. Progression through the Swindon Borough Council career pathway
Social Work and Leadership Academy
At Swindon Borough Council we have a dynamic Social Work and Leadership Academy that aims to develop practitioners and leaders across the service.
This provides a framework that can support workers at any level through all of their employment with us, whether a student on placements, a newly qualified workers in your first year, an experienced social worker or manager.
The Academy has good relationships with local universities and training providers enabling a comprehensive programme of learning for all staff, alongside this we support a range of practice led learning within teams.
The Academy keeps up to date with new research and national initiatives, this enables us to promote good practice and be innovative in our ways of working.
We actively support a culture of professional development and support staff to access a range of opportunities across the department and have a clear career progression programme.
Join Swindon and you will be able to continually build and expand on your skills and experience, we will support you to continually develop and get where you want to go in your career.
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