Home-grown social workers means no shortage

Nurturing home-grown talent and tireless on-going recruitment by the Council means that children’s social worker vacancies in Plymouth are at an all-time low.

The national shortage of social workers is a well-publicised challenge for the UK and the vast majority of councils are faced with vacancies in their areas.

Not so for Plymouth City Council – it’s Children’s Social Care team currently boasts only a three per cent vacancy rate. In real-terms, that translates to just three vacancies out of the 100 social worker positions needed for a full complement of staff in the department, and those vacancies are set to be filled shortly.

The Council puts its success down to excellent relationships with Plymouth University, which results in many newly qualified social workers graduating from Plymouth remaining in the city to work for the Council.

Between 1 April 2012 and 31 December 2012 the Council recruited 18 social workers – 15 of which were newly qualified from Plymouth University, two were newly qualified from other universities around the country and one was an experienced social worker from another authority.

Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “We understand the importance and value of home-grown talent and our work with Plymouth University means we make the most of the fantastic number of students studying to become social workers in the city. Not only is this good business sense, it’s great for the local economy and the University, as we’ve steadily built up a reputation amongst students to expect good supportive placements, on-going professional development and ultimately jobs when they study in the city.”   

Dr Tanya Ovenden-Hope, Head of the School of Social Science and Social Work, said: “Plymouth University is one of the first institutions nationally to be recognised for its social work education, achieving The College of Social Work endorsement for both practice learning and professional development. And we’re delighted that our commitment to sector-leading social work degrees, achieved through engagement and partnership with statutory agencies such as Plymouth City Council and other social care providers, is acknowledged by student choice and employers recruiting our graduates.

“It is great to see that so many of our qualifying social workers are employed in the city and this provides us with even more incentive to ensure that our programmes continue to meet and exceed the needs of professional social work standards.”

Plymouth’s successful recruitment and retention of newly qualified social workers is aided by the national Assessed and Supported Year in Employment Scheme where the Council has been leading the way nationally. The scheme is hosted by The College of Social Work and supported by the Department of Education and Skills for Care, and involves a thorough assessment process and targeted support for new social workers. 

The Council supports all newly recruited and qualified social workers through this scheme and through innovative partnership arrangements with Universities. The work leads to an accredited pathway of nationally recognised qualifications that continue beyond the first year. Focused training, protected development time and regular supervision are just some of the components newly qualified workers can expect when joining Plymouth.

The Council also has an extremely effective social worker development scheme, which enables staff working in supporting roles within children’s social care to develop their careers by studying to become social workers through the Open University.

They are selected and sponsored by the Council and in return for the investment, staff continue in their support roles whilst studying. They also sign a contract agreeing to be social workers in Plymouth for a minimum of three years. Three trainees will shortly take up their posts after achieving their degrees.

These initiatives feed into the Council’s continuous recruitment programme, which sees a permanent advert on its job vacancies board, an online application pack and monthly shortlisting and interview panels.