Agenda item

Further to the production and circulation of the Scrutiny Initiation Document (SID) for this year’s (2023-24) scrutiny review into The Children’s Workforce, Recruiting, Retaining and Growing Talent in Islington, a presentation was delivered to the Committee. In the following discussion, the following points were raised:

·       The SID focussed on recruitment and retention of the children’s workforce in its various forms, and how the Council grows its talent.

·       Nationally, the Children’s Workforce was really varied, comprising multiple professions and services. Most of these services come into contact with young people at different stages.

·       The core children’s workforce consisted of those working directly with children and young people, such as social workers, teachers and CAMHS workers, often with statutory responsibilities. There were limited budgets and capacity in these services, leading to complications and pressures in service delivery. It was essential that these services were adequately equipped to provide the preventative service they were designed for. Social workers and teachers played an essential role in the development of children and young people but were not the only aspect.

·       The wider children’s workforce complemented the core children’s workforce, in a more universal capacity and also had a focus on early intervention. This included support staff, developing connections with families, children, and other outreach beyond statutory interventions.

·       Pastoral support staff, nurses, and employment coaches were examples of staff that helped young people with transition into adulthood.

·       Children and young people should receive the necessary support to access all the opportunities in life. Nationally there had been an erosion of services that meet these needs such as early help and youth work. Early years support was crucial in the development of a child, so that they could reach attainment later on school ready, but this sector needed long-term sustainable funding to realise the benefits. Nationally it was vital this section workforce was addressed to address capacity issues.

·       The government continued to invest in new routes into social work. However, despite the investment, significant challenges remain in retention. Social work occurs in challenging environments with lack of resources and increasing demand leading to high levels of stress and departures.

·       The role of the family social worker has changed considerably, with challenges that could not be met by social workers alone.

·       Real-term cuts to local authority budgets and funding gaps had an impact on the support provided to families. Most local authorities were already overspending on Children’s Services.

·       Teacher sufficiency remained a problem.

·       There needed to be a national drive to recruit occupational, speech and language therapists.

·       National Youth Agency estimated that there were 3000 youth practitioners working without qualification.

·       Youth Offending Services teams have had a demonstrable, positive impact on and were part of a targeted approach to helping families.

·       Progression was cited as a key point to consider – locally, that meant looking at workers in the sector progressing into senior leadership roles. Traditionally, said senior leadership roles skewed against particular ethnic groups whereas communities were becoming more diverse.

·       It was suggested that Committee members could speak to Human Resources about the current approach to recruitment and retention. There could potentially be a lot of older workers that were suitable fits for these careers but didn’t think that they were eligible. The job advertisements were said to sometimes be disillusioning, and the suggestion was made to the Committee that having current staff talking about their roles at job fairs, might help.

·       There were also workers/mentor from the voluntary sector that were ethnically diverse, that would likely be enthusiastic for the opportunity to work for Islington, but may not have the required qualifications, and thus needed support. The suggestion was made to reach out to these voluntary organisations.

·       It was suggested that Committee members also looked at the voluntary youth workforce such as sport coaches, mentors, and the barriers to these voluntary positions in Islington.

·       It was suggested that Committee members also consider talking to parent/guardians/ parent carer champions to see how they were coping, and the paths into recruitment for those whose children might have left home or progressed into higher forms of education.

·       It was suggested that a workforce media campaign to attract the talent that Islington needed to be comprehensive.

·       It was suggested that the Committee should have overall statistics of what the local workforce looked like currently, including the local challenges.

·       It was also suggested that the Committee spoke to some frontline staff about what made them start working for Islington and what would make them stay.

·       It was also suggested that the Committee speak to MOPAC on issues concerning police liaison.

ACTION:

Officers to co-ordinate the collation and circulation of local workforce statistics, covering early years, education, and youth services, to help inform the Committee’s review.

RESOLVED:

That the Scrutiny Initiation Document be agreed.