Comment: Local authority spend on the agency social work...

Rachel Dickinson, ADCS President, said:

“The flexibility provided by agency social workers can be useful especially in managing peaks and troughs in demand for our services, however, the market needs to be effectively managed to ensure it provides a quality workforce and good value for money. In a climate of reducing budgets, increasing need in communities and a national shortage of social workers, many local authorities are having to spend unaffordable amounts on the agency workforce – this is unsustainable. We urgently need a national recruitment and retention campaign, funded by the DfE, which clearly explains that good social work can, and does, change lives to encourage more people to choose social work as a career.”

ENDS

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