Social Work Staffing

Please can I request the following;

1a) How many qualified social workers were working on a temporary (agency) basis at the Council during the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20. 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23? Broken down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services
Adults’ Social Services

1b) How many qualified social workers were working on a permanent basis at the Council during the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20. 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23? Broken down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services
Adults’ Social Services

Adults
Year Agency Worker Count* Spend Contracted Social Worker Count
2018-19 75  £     1,529,484.00 410
2019-20 48  £     1,110,025.00 443
2020-21 34  £     1,096,970.00 451
2021-22 56  £     1,192,107.00 449
2022-23 53  £     1,528,423.00 450
Total  £     6,457,009.00
Children’s
Year Agency Worker Count*  Spend Contracted Social Worker Count
2018-19 174  £     4,628,897.00 439
2019-20 197  £     6,256,369.00 426
2020-21 212  £     7,348,172.00 419
2021-22 370  £  11,314,519.00 417
2022-23 345  £  14,451,441.00 443
Total  £  43,999,398.00

*Agency workers could be employed on multiple occasions throughout the year to cover various posts i.e 2022/23 The count is for every time any agency worker is requested to cover a post not that there were 345 social workers employed everyday between April 22 and March 23.

2. What was the total spend by your organisation on temporary/ locum qualified (agency) social workers during the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20. 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23? Broken down,  specifically:

Children’s Social Services
Adults’ Social Services

Please see the tables above.

3. How many vacant positions were filled through locum temporary/ locum qualified (agency) social workers during the financial years 2018/19, 2019/20. 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23? Broken down, specifically:

Children’s Social Services
Adults’ Social Services

Devon County Council does not hold this information.